About Rubus lasiococcus A.Gray
Rubus lasiococcus A.Gray is a tangling, prostrate shrub. It produces very slender stolons that spread along the ground, rooting at nodes that come into contact with moist substrate and forming a mat. Some stems grow upright to produce flowers. The leaves are 2.5 to 6.5 centimetres (1 to 2 1⁄2 inches) wide; each leaf is deeply divided into three lobes, or compound with three toothed leaflets, and grows on a petiole a few centimetres long. The inflorescence holds either one solitary flower or a pair of flowers, with five reflexed sepals and five white petals each up to 1 centimetre (3⁄8 inch) long. The fruit is a densely hairy red aggregate fruit roughly 1.3 centimetres (1⁄2 inch) across. This species is native to western North America, ranging from British Columbia to northern California, where it grows in mountain forests. In the southern half of its range, it is commonly found growing in the understory plant community dominated by mountain hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana) and Shasta red fir (Abies magnifica var. shastensis). The berry of Rubus lasiococcus is edible.
