Rubus ellipticus Smith subsp. fasciculatus (Duthie) Focke; R. ellipticus var. fasciculatus (Duthie) Masamune; R. erythrolasius Focke; R. fasciculatus Duthie; R. pinfaensis H. Léveillé & Vaniot.

Shrubs climbing, 1–2 m tall. Branchlets reddish brown, grayish brown in age, robust, angled, pubescent, with sparse, curved prickles, with dense, spreading reddish brown bristles to 7 mm. Leaves imparipinnate, usually 3-foliolate; petiole 2–4.5 cm, petiolule of terminal leaflet 1.5–3 cm, lateral leaflets subsessile, reddish brown bristly, pubescent, with sparse prickles; stipules linear, 0.7–1.4 cm, pubescent, intermixed sparsely setose; blade of leaflets elliptic or ovate, rarely obovate, 4–9(–12) × 3–7(–10) cm, terminal leaflet larger than lateral leaflets, midvein and veins raised abaxially, impressed adaxially, often sparsely setose, with minute prickles, abaxially dark green, glabrous or slightly pubescent along midvein, adaxially slightly pale, pilose only along veins, base rounded or broadly cuneate, margin irregularly sharply serrate, apex acuminate to caudate, rarely nearly acute. Inflorescences clusters of 4–8 flowers in leaf axils, rarely flowers solitary; bracts linear or linear-lanceolate, 6–10 mm, pubescent. Pedicel 4–7 mm, pubescent, intermixed setose, with minute prickles. Flowers 1–1.3 cm in diam. Calyx abaxially densely tomentose; sepals erect in fruit, broadly ovate or triangular-ovate, 5–7 × 4–5 mm, apex subacute, abruptly long pointed. Petals white, spatulate to elliptic-obovate, 6–10 × 4–6 mm, both surfaces tomentose, base clawed, apex rounded to acute. Stamens many, shorter than petals; filaments linear, but somewhat broadened and flattened. Pistils slightly shorter than or nearly as long as stamens; apex of ovary and base of style soft hairy. Aggregate fruit golden or reddish yellow at maturity, globose, 5–8 mm in diam., glabrous; pyrenes deeply rugose. Fl. Mar–Apr, fr. May–Jun. 2n = 14*.

Thickets on slopes, mixed forests, montane valleys, ravines, stream sides, cliffs; 300--2200 m. Guangxi, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan, Taiwan, Yunnan [Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sikkim, Vietnam].