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Rubus tricolor
Chinese bramble is a vigorous, trailing groundcover shrub that forms dense mats, best kept in larger areas since it spreads fast. It grows well in partial shade and tolerates a wide range of soils.
Rubus tricolor () is a species of prostrate shrub. Its common names include Chinese bramble, groundcover bramble, creeping bramble, Korean raspberry, Himalayan bramble, and groundcover raspberry. In Chinese, it is called 三色莓 ('sān sè méi ').
It usually forms a vigorously spreading, dense mat. The leaves are dark green above, pale green below, and stems have red bristles. It has white flowers in summer and edible red fruit. It is native to southwestern China. In cultivation, it is mainly used as groundcover.
R. tricolor is a tough plant, easily cultivated, and low maintenance. The species is cold hardy to about −15 °C (5 °F), meaning it can be grown in United States hardiness (USDA) zones 6–9, and it has a Royal Horticultural Society hardiness rating of "H5". R. tricolor will grow in well-drained soil but will tolerate moist soil as long as it is fairly well-drained. It tolerates a variety of soils such as chalky or sandy soils, but prefers loam; and tolerates acid, neutral, or alkaline soils. The plant grows best in partial shade but will also grow in deep shade or full sun.
It is widely used as a groundcover plant to suppress weeds, and protect soil. Since it is very vigorous, and fast-growing it is more suited to larger areas, and is said to be too vigorous for small gardens. Since it is tolerant of deep shade and has edible fruit, it has been recommended by proponents of forest gardening as a good groundcover plant under trees. Despite forming a dense groundcover, in the absence of a canopy layer R.
The native range is Sichuan and Yunnan provinces in southwest China. It has been introduced into Great Britain and Ireland.
The fruits are edible raw or cooked and are generally treated in the same manner as raspberries. They are usually eaten raw because they have limited shelf life once harvested. The fruit can also be made into jam.
Garden dewberry · Allegheny blackberry · Arctic blackberry · Giant Blackberry · Rubus biflorus · Dewberry · Cloudberry · White Stemmed Bramble · Korean Bramble · Rubus coriaceus · Korean Raspberry · Holy Bramble
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Rubus tricolor by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
