Grey-felted bramble

Rubus polyanthemus Lindeb. (Rosaceae) is a robust bramble of the R. fruticosus aggregate, native across western and central Europe and naturalized in parts of North America. It forms arching to scrambling biennial canes 1.5–3 m long, with stout angular stems bearing scattered, broad-based, slightly curved prickles and a sparse, greyish-felted indumentum on the younger growth. Leaves are palmately compound with five (rarely three) ovate to elliptic leaflets, doubly serrate, dark green above and conspicuously grey-tomentose beneath; the terminal leaflet is broadly ovate with a cordate base and an acuminate tip. The inflorescence is a long, leafy, broadly pyramidal panicle bearing white to pale-pink five-petalled flowers about 2–2.5 cm across with numerous stamens. The aggregate fruit is a glossy black drupelet cluster ripening in mid to late summer. The species occupies hedgerows, woodland edges, and disturbed ground.