宜昌悬钩子 yi chang xuan gou zi

Rubus eugenius Focke; R. ichangensis var. latifolius Cardot; R. papyrus H. Léveillé.

Shrubs scandent, deciduous or semievergreen, to 3 m tall. Branchlets greenish to greenish brown, terete, glabrous or subglabrous, with glandular hairs when young, glabrescent, with sparse, curved short prickles. Leaves simple; petiole 2–4 cm, glabrous, usually with sparse, glandular hairs and short prickles; stipules caducous, subulate or linear-lanceolate, 4–8 mm, glabrous, with sparse, short glandular hairs marginally, margin entire or only apically shallowly laciniate; blade ovate-lanceolate, 8–15 × 3–6 cm, subleathery, both surfaces glabrous, abaxially with sparse, small prickles along midvein, base deeply cordate, with broad basal incision, margin shallowly undulate or lobulate near base, sparsely serrulate, apex acuminate. Inflorescences terminal and axillary, terminal ones narrow cymose panicles, 15–25 cm, axillary ones subracemes, shorter; rachis and pedicels sparsely pubescent, with glandular hairs, sometimes intermixed with small prickles; bracts subulate to linear-lanceolate, 4–6 mm, margin entire or apically laciniate, with sparse, glandular hairs. Pedicel 3–6 mm. Flowers 6–8 mm in diam. Calyx abaxially sparsely pubescent, with glandular hairs; sepals ovate, 3–5 × 2–3 mm, margin sometimes gray pubescent, apex acute to shortly acuminate. Petals white, elliptic, shorter than or nearly as long as sepals. Stamens many, shorter than petals; filaments somewhat broadened and flattened. Pistils 12–30, slightly shorter than or ca. as long as stamens, glabrous. Aggregate fruit red, subglobose, 6–8 mm in diam., glabrous; pyrenes rugulose. Fl. Jul–Aug, fr. Sep–Oct. 2n = 28*.

Slopes, fallow fields, dense forests in valleys, thickets; 800--2500 m. Anhui, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan.

The fruit are sweet and edible, the roots are used in medicine, and tannin is extracted from the roots and stems.