Rubus thibetanus

Rubus thibetanus, sometimes known as ghost bramble,^[5] is a species of deciduous shrub in the genus Rubus, native to western China, where the local Chinese name may be translated into English as Tibetan dewberry.^[6] It is called xu zang xuan gou zi in transcribed Chinese.^[3]

Rubus thibetanus
at the Botanical Garden in Berlin
(left to right) R. coreanus, R. thibetanus, R. corchorifolius[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Rosales
Family:	Rosaceae
Genus:	Rubus
Subgenus:	Rubus subg. Idaeobatus
Species:	R. thibetanus
Binomial name
Rubus thibetanus Franch.[2]
Synonyms[3][4]
Rubus veitchii Rolfe

Rubus thibetanus is found in Gansu, Shaanxi, Sichuan, and Xizang (Tibet) provinces, to an altitude of 900–2100 meters, usually in dry areas in ravines, thickets, ditches, and on the edges of forests.^[3][7]

Rubus thibetanus grows 2–3 m tall, with reddish-brown, cylindric branchlets, and sparse prickles. Leaves are pinnately compound, triangular over all, appearing rather fern-like. Flowers are white, emerging in June. In August it bears its fruit, which are globular, purplish-black or dark red aggregate fruits ("berries"), 8–10 mm in diameter.^[7] Reports of the edibility of said fruits is inconsistent; some regard these as inedible without clarification,^[8][why?] and only some sources consider the fruit edible.^[9]

In cultivation in the UK, Rubus thibetanus has won the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.^[8]