Dwarf Bramble, Roughfruit Berry

Dwarf bramble is an attractive ground cover which establishes easily in the woodland garden. It is an unarmed, trailing or stolonous plant with slender stems which trail along the ground and root at the nodes. The trailing stems may be up to 50 cm long. The erect stems arise up to 2 cm and bear 1-3 leaves and flowering stems up to 10 cm long. The palmately simple leaves have 3-5 shallow to deeply cleft lobes and have heart or kidney-shaped blades from 3-6 cm wide. The margins are doubly toothed.

One (usually) or two flowers are found atop the short erect stems and these have 5 white petals. The sepals are ovate-lanceolate to lanceolate and are 4-7 mm long. The 5 white petals are 5-8 mm long. The stamens are numerous and there are 7-15 pistils. The fruit are a cluster of small red berries, the cluster; at most 1 cm wide.

Dwarf bramble may be found in mountainous areas in thickets or woodlands on both dry to moist soils.

Dwarf bramble may be found from British Columbia south in the Cascades to northwestern California. It is also found in the Olympic Mts. of Washington.

In the Columbia River Gorge it may be found between the elevations of 2400'-4900' from Silver Star Mt. east to near Mt. Defiance and Augspurger Mt..