Abstract
Rubus Linnaeus (1753: 492) is one of the largest genera in the Rosaceae and species of Rubus occur on all continents except Antarctica (Lu & Boufford 2003, Wang & al. 2013). Rubus is a taxonomically notoriously complex genus. Its species circumscription is complicated by hybridization, polyploidy, agamospermy, and lack of a universal species concept (Weber 1996), which has resulted in broad disagreement about the number of species with estimates ranging from 250 (Mabberley 1997) to several thousand (Jennings 1988). In the latest revision, published nearly a century ago by Focke (1910, 1911, 1914), Rubus was divided into 12 subgenera. Most of the species were classified in subgenera Rubus, Idaeobatus (Focke) Focke (1910: 128), and Malachobatus (Focke) Focke (1910: 41).
