Rubus irenaeus Focke

An evergreen prostrate shrub; stems round, slender, covered with a dense grey down, amidst which are set numerous small decurved prickles. Leaves roundish with a heart-shaped base, and an abrupt, pointed apex, 6 in. or more across, margins toothed and bristly, sometimes obscurely lobed; upper surface glabrous, dark green, lower one covered with a pale brown felt, and more or less hairy on the yellow veins; stalks 11⁄2 to 3 in. long. Flowers white, 3⁄4 in. wide, produced singly or in pairs in the leaf-axils, and in a small terminal cluster. Fruits large, red.

Native of Central and W. China; introduced about 1900 by Wilson for Messrs Veitch. It is one of the most striking and remarkable of simple-leaved Rubi, the foliage being of a shape and size suggestive of a coltsfoot leaf, but having on the upper surface a curious metallic lustre. It has some value as a handsome covering for semi-shaded slopes, or wherever a low evergreen vegetation is desired.