Rubus ‘Samuel Gibson’s Bramble’

Distribution:
A bramble of the Calder valleys about Todmorden. Small populations of similar looking plants occur elsewhere in South Lancashire and may extend westwards to the Chorley area.

Habitat:
Roadsides, field scrub, woods, woodland borders and railway banks.

Taxon Designation:
If a distinct bramble then thought to be a Regional Endemic; South Lancashire Axiophyte.

Comments:
A feature of the borders of Lancashire and Yorkshire first noticed about Todmorden, the extent of the Yorkshire distribution is yet to be determined. Plants have pink flowers and purple stems and can resemble Rubus dasyphyllus but the stem armature is such that this taxon is within the range of Series Radulae rather than Series Hystrices.

Recently several populations of plants thought to be within the range of variantion of Rubus lanaticaulis have been found in SD62 between Brindle and Withnell. There is a possibility that the ‘Samuel Gibson’s Bramble’ is actually Rubus lanaticaulis. If this is the case the records of the ‘Samuel Gibson’s Bramble’ gathered for Lancashire and Yorkshire represent a major extension of the known distribution of Rubus lanaticaulis in England with popultions extending eastern to Yorkshire through the Ribble and Calder valley gaps.



This map has been generated using a programme created by John Lowell for the South Lancashire 'snapshot flora' 1995-2005.