BLACKBERRY FLOWER

The blackberry is an edible fruit produced by many species in the Rubus genus in the Rosaceae family, hybrids among these species within the Rubus subgenus, and hybrids between the Rubus and Idaeobatus subgenera. The taxonomy of the blackberries has historically been confused because of hybridisation and apomixis, so that species have often been grouped together and called species aggregates. For example, the entire subgenus Rubus has been called the Rubus fruticosus aggregate, although the species R. fruticosus is considered a synonym of R. plicatus.

What distinguishes the blackberry from its raspberry relatives is whether or not the torus (receptacle or stem) 'picks-with' (i.e. stays with) the fruit. When picking a blackberry fruit, the torus does stay with the fruit. With a raspberry, the torus remains on the plant, leaving a hollow core in the raspberry fruit.

The beautiful metallic green beetle is a Chrysanthia spp., which is a genus of beetles belonging to the family Oedemeridae subfamily Nacerdinae. It could well be a C. viridissima. The common name of these is 'green false blister beetles'.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme,
and also part of the Friday Greens meme.