Narrative

Salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis) is found from Alaska south to northwestern California near the coast and also east of the Cascades. It is an upright bush usually growing in thickets. The round stems are yellow to brown. This species can be found from almost sea level up to 5,000 feet.

The pink color will help identify this lifeform. This lifeform is found in wooded areas. This lifeform is locally common.

This lifeform is found in the Pacific States and Provinces of North America.

Rubus genus (raspberry, bramble, blackberry, etc.) is found almost worldwide. However, the majority of the species are found in the northern temperate zones of both the Old and New World. There are perhaps 250-350 valid species in this genus. Kartesz lists 255 species, two hybrids, and 39 subspecies found in his greater North America, which includes the United States, Canada, Hawaii, Greenland, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. There is not total agreement between the botanists regarding which are true species, which are natural hybrids, and which are subspecies. Some authors feel that the few wild species have frequently interbred with the European immigrants and have produced many different wild species. Identifications in this group are subsequently difficult. These plants are perennial herbs, shrubs, or trailing vines. The typical species has spines or thorns on the stems. The alternate leaves may be simple lobed or 3-7 foliate. The fruits are aggregate and in many species very edible. Several of the species have been cultivated for many years leading to a number of varieties that can be found in the wild.

Rose Family has been arbitrarily divided into several different parts to facilitate study. This portion contains the small wild plants in the family. Included herein are wild roses, strawberries, raspberries, and other related plants. (The rose hybrids, Spiraea, and fruit trees are the other sections created to study this large family.)

Rose Family (Rosaceae) of the Rose Order contains the Rose genus and is a very large diverse family containing not only the roses, but many small weeds and also the important fruit trees including the apple, cherry, pear, and plum. Along with the Grass and Legume Families, this family is one of the most important of all plant groups. There are over 3,000 species in this family organized into over 100 different genera. There are over 840 species growing in greater North America. Typical flowers in this family have five petals and five sepals.

Here the family is arbitrarily divided as follows:

A) Miscellaneous small wild plants such as roses, strawberries, et cetera
B) Rose hybrids of interest to the flower gardener
C) Spiraea group (which forms a natural subfamily)
D) Fruit trees and hawthorns, et cetera

Rose Group (Order Rosales) contains many large and very important families. Included here are fruit trees in the family Rosaceae, the nitrogen fixing plants like clover and alfalfa (in the family Leguminosae), and a large assemblage of plants divided into over fifteen different families.

Dicots (Dicotyledoneae Class) are the predominant group of vascular plants on earth. With the exception of the grasses (Monocots) and the Conifers (Gymnosperms), most of the larger plants that one encounters are Dicots. Dicots are characterized by having a seed with two outer shell coverings.

Some of the more primitive Dicots are the typical hardwood trees (oaks, birches, hickories, etc). The more advanced Dicots include many of the Composite (Aster) Family flowers like the Dandelion, Aster, Thistles, and Sunflowers. Although many Monocots reach a very high degree of specialization, most botanists feel that the Dicots represent the most advanced group of plants.

Seed plants (Phylum Embryophyta) are generally grouped into one large phylum containing three major classes: the Gymnosperms, the Monocots, and the Dicots. (Some scientists separate the Gymnosperms into a separate phylum and refer to the remaining plants as flowering plants or Angiospermae.)

For North American counts of the number of species in each genus and family, the primary reference has been John T. Kartesz, author of A Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland (1994). The geographical scope of his lists include, as part of greater North America, Hawaii, Alaska, Greenland, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.

Kartesz lists 21,757 species of vascular plants comprising the ferns, gymnosperms and flowering plants as being found in greater North America (including Alaska, Hawaii, Greenland, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

There are estimates within the scientific world that about half of the listed North American seed plants were originally native with the balance being comprised of Eurasian and tropical plants that have become established.