Rubus copelandii — Edible Plant Database

What to Eat

Edible parts: Fruit

Fruit - raw. Fairly juicy, but not well-flavoured. The orange-red fruit is nearly 20mm long and 15mm in diameter.

Dangerous Lookalikes

This plant can be confused with the following toxic species. Always verify identification carefully before consuming any wild plant.

DEADLY

Red Baneberry

Actaea rubra

SAFE

Pinit

Rubus copelandii

Red Baneberry: Short herbaceous plant (no thorns), berries on thick red stems, each berry has a single seed, compound sharply-toothed leaves.

Pinit: Thorny woody canes (brambles), aggregate berry made of many drupelets, berries pull easily from receptacle.

Where to Find It

A tropical plant. It grows in thickets in limestone formation at about 1300 m elevation. They occur only in Benguet, Mountain Province in the Philippines. It grows at the edges of forests between 1,700-2,450 m above sea level.

Asia, Pacific, Philippines, SE Asia,

Countries: United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Brunei, Bhutan, China, Fiji, Micronesia, Georgia, Indonesia, Israel, India, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Cambodia, Kiribati, North Korea, South Korea, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Laos, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Marshall Islands, Myanmar, Mongolia, Maldives, Malaysia, Nepal, Nauru, New Zealand, Oman, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Pakistan, Palau, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Solomon Islands, Singapore, Syria, Thailand, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, Tonga, Turkey, Tuvalu, Taiwan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Vanuatu, Samoa, Yemen

How to Identify

A scrambling spiny shrub. The leaves are either simple or compound with 2 to 3 leaflets which have a toothed edge. They are pointed at the tip and rounded at the base. The flowers are white and occur singly or in clusters. The berries are orange red and juicy but without much flavour.

How to Grow

Species in this genus are generally easily grown in a good well-drained loamy soil in sun or semi-shade.

Propagation: Seed - germinates best if given a period of cold stratification prior to sowing in containers. Stored seed requires one month stratification at about 3°c and is best sown as early as possible in the growing season. Prick out the seedlings when they are large enough to handle and grow on until large enough to plant out. Cuttings of half-ripe wood in a frame. Tip layering towards the end of the growing season Division just before the plant comes into new growth or as it enters dormancy.

Notes

There are about 250 Rubus species.

References (5)

Brown, W.H., 1920, Wild Food Plants of the Philippines. Bureau of Forestry Bulletin No. 21 Manila. p 62
Monsalud, M.R., Tongacan, A.L., Lopez, F.R., & Lagrimas, M.Q., 1966, Edible Wild Plants in Philippine Forests. Philippine Journal of Science. p 535
Philipp. J. Sci. 1(suppl.):194. 1906
PROSEA No. 2
World Checklist of Useful Plant Species 2020. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew