Cloudberries (Rubus chamaemorus) in Seldovia

Stephen Payton writes,

Found cloud berries while out doing fieldwork. We thought cloud berries only grew out west or towards the interior and have never heard of them in the area before. This is the only place in the area we have seen them. They are growing near a small pond, maybe birds migrating through brought them?

LEO says:

Though uncommon to the coastal temperate rainforest of Seldovia, Cloudberries (Rubus chamaemorus) is a native species favoring forest habitats "primarily in the black spruce-sphagnum community type. Cloudberry also dominates, or co-dominates in dwarf-shrub types, bogs, muskegs, and open tussock tundra."

Cloudberries propagate by two mechanisms, one of which is distribution by animals who pass the seeds through their digestive tracks. Along the Kenai Peninsula, moose and caribou have been known to browse cloudberry leaves and twigs, as well as the new shoots. Once seeded, cloudberries will spread by rhizome, similar to raspberries and blackberries. Sources: USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Species Profile Rubus chamaemorus L. NatureGate Species Profile "Cloudberry"

LEO Network, in collaboration with USGS, is hosting an annual survey about berry harvest in Alaska. If you are a berry harvester you are welcome to participate in our LEO Berry Assessment. See also the published report, How are your berries? Perspectives of Alaska’s environmental managers on trends in wild berry abundance. Hupp, J. et al. Published online 2015 Sep 15. doi: 10.3402/ijch.v74.28704.

Resources:

UAF Cooperative Extension Service Publication on Cloudberries