Bramble agg. - Rubus fruticosus agg.
There are hundreds of similar species of Bramble in this complex, which really require an expert to identify them. Our illustrations are shown to represent the group. Scrambling shrub, with long arching thorny branches that of root at the tip. Flowers white or pink 20 to 30 cm the edible fruit is the familiar Blackberry.
Waste ground, hedgerows, woodland, etc.
May to November.
Biennial.
Bramble is very common throughout Britain.
Very common as a group in Leicestershire and Rutland. In the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire it was sub-divided so no figure can be given.
AJ Cann
Kelham Bridge
27 June 2015
Paul Ruddoch
Melton Country Park
24 June 2015
Paul Ruddoch
Asfordby Hill
08 October 2015
egaten
New Lount
27/07/2017
AJ Cann
Croft Glebe
13 January 2018
Graham Calow
Path near Huncote Road, Stoney Stanton
23 June 2016
Leicestershire & Rutland Map
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Species profile
- Common names
- Bramble, Blackberry, Blackberry / Bramble
- Species group:
- flowering plant
- Kingdom:
- Plantae
- Order:
- Rosales
- Family:
- Rosaceae
- Records on NatureSpot:
- 1221
- First record:
- 11/05/1992 (John Mousley;Steve Grover)
- Last record:
- 07/04/2026 (Bates, Adam)
Total records by month
% of records within its species group
10km squares with records
The latest images and records displayed below include those awaiting verification checks so we cannot guarantee that every identification is correct. Once accepted, the record displays a green tick.
In the Latest Records section, click on the header to sort A-Z, and again to sort Z-A. Use the header boxes to filter the list.
Latest images
Latest records
Rowan Roenisch
Swithland Wood
30 December 2018
steven lewis
welby
04 October 2015
Ray Pearce
Ashby Road West, Shepshed
05/08/2017
Barbara Cooper
Clawson Hill
23 June 2012
Paul Ruddoch
Rhubarb Island
07 June 2015
Barbara Cooper
Walton on the Wolds
11 June 2015
Ron.stevens
Thornton and Bagworth
22 August 2017
Paul Ruddoch
Petfoods River
27 July 2014
Alan Semper
Harby footpath hedge
26 November 2011
Stigmella aurella
There are a number of moths in the Stigmella genus and most look very similar. However their caterpillars feed on various plants creating leafmines that can help with identification. Stigmella aurella specialises on Bramble and the long, thin leafmines can be very common and are even recognisable in winter when they become white.
Coptotriche marginea
The caterpillars of this small moth feed on the leaves on Bramble, creating a funnel-shaped blotch.
Diastrophus rubi
The larvae of this small wasp create galls on the stems of Bramble. The stem swells, often bending, and this comprises many chambers, each housing a wasp larva. The galls can persist on old stems over winter.
Dark Bramble-cutter
The larvae of the Dark Bramble-cutter sawfly (Monophadnoides rubi) feed on Bramble and other Rubus species as well as Geum and Filipendula.
Fenella nigrita
The larva of the sawfly Fenella nigrita mines the leaves of Agrimony, Cinquefoils and Brambles. The mine is a full depth transparent blotch without a clear preceding corridor, quickly and strongly widening from the start. Frass in sausage-shaped granules. The larva has a series of black dots on the underside of the thorax.
Metallus pumilus
The larva of the sawfly Metallus pumilus mines the leaves of various Rubus species including Brambles. The mine begins with a short, quickly widening corridor which opens into a large, very transparent, almost full depth blotch that often overruns the initial corridor. The larva has a large prothoracic plate, two further thoracic spots and one spot on the first abdominal segment (this distinguishes it from M.albipes). It is necessary to check the larva or rear through in order to identify to species level.
Cladius brullei
The larva of the sawfly Cladius brullei is a slightly hairy, black headed creature, grey brown and slightly speckled above, off white below. It feeds on the leaves of Rubus species such as Blackberry and Raspberry, but also on Rowan.
Amphorophora rubi
The aphid Amphorophora rubi does not host alternate. It feeds on the underside of leaves of Blackberry and related Rubus species, but not on Raspberry. The body length of Amphorophora rubi apterae is 2.2 to 4.7 mm, they are pale green or yellowish green with pale, slightly swollen siphunculi,
Stigmella splendidissimella
The larva of the moth Stigmella splendidissimella mines the leaves of Geum species, Bramble, Agrimony and Wild Strawberry. The mine is a long meandering gallery with a neat central frass line. S. aurella produces similar mines usually with dispersed frass, but can produce mines that are very similar to S. splendidissimella. Therefore all leaf mine records of either species where the frass line is central and not dispersed should be tenanted and reared through to adult.
Blackberry Leaf Midge
The larvae of the Blackberry Leaf Midge (Dasineura plicatrix) cause galls to form on Bramble. The young leaf is creased, pleated or buckled with thickened veins. The larvae are present in the creases briefly in late spring or early summer. The leaf becomes black around the midrib after the larva has left.
Lasioptera rubi
The larva of the gall midge Lasioptera rubi produces galls in the stems of various plants of the Rubus family, particularly in Bramble stems. The gall takes the form of a swelling, green at first, later brown and hard. The swelling is quite rounded in shape and up to 5 x 2 cm. The gall surface sometimes has longitudinal fissures. Old galls with exit holes may persist on the stems.
Epitrimerus gibbosus
The mite Epitrimerus gibbosus causes a white or greyish felty erineum along the veins of the bramble leaf undersides, and a corresponding discoloration on the upperside.
Pale Bramble Rust
Pale Bramble Rust (Kuehneola uredinis) affects Rubus species (brambles) - and there is no host alternation. Small conspicuous warts appear on the upper side of the leaves and bear yellow spermogonia and aecia. Later, yellow uredinia are present on leaf undersides and often erupting from stems and petioles. Telia are rarely found.
Phragmidium bulbosum
Phragmidium bulbosum is a gall-causing rust fungus that affects the leaves of various Rubus species (Blackberry, Dewberry etc.). There is no host alternation. It is usually recorded as telia, which are black and in the leaf undersides; the teliospores have 4 - 7 cells, a long pedicel and an apiculus. Spermogonia are on the leaf upperside, and minute yellow aecia underside.
Violet Bramble Rust
Violet Bramble Rust (Phragmidium violaceum) is a gall-causing rust on Bramble. There is no host-plant alternation. Aecia, uredinia and black telia are on the leaf undersides, with a corresponding violet spot on the upperside.