Rubus wahlbergii and related species in Sweden

Abstract

We studied Rubus wahlbergii and related species in R. sect. Corylifolii, primarily in Sweden, using DNA microsatellites. The results show that the material can be divided into three species: R. wahlbergii s.s. which occurs along the Swedish coast from Bohuslän to Uppland, R. nordicus which occurs on the western coast all the way south to north‐western Skåne, and a previously unrecognized taxon which we here describe as R. wahlbergioides. The latter has scattered localities in Halland, Skåne, Blekinge, Öland and Småland, but is common around Kivik in Skåne and Kalmar in Småland. It is characterised by leaves that are without felt underneath, terminal leaflets with a somewhat more triangular shape and coarser serration than those of R. wahlbergii and also has more glands on the stem and the inflorescence. In the northern part of the distribution, R. nordicus is easily distinguished morphologically from R. wahlbergii, e.g. by a strong tendency to form 7‐foliolate leaves, but in Skåne and Halland, the two species are harder to distinguish. Still, genetically R. nordicus is more similar to R. sordirosanthus than to R. wahlbergii s.s.