Rubus chamaemorus
Cloudberry
Species Details
Cloudberry is an occasional native perennial of blanket bogs and upland moors in the Dark and South West Peak [Crowden Moors SE0604 (vc58); Kinderscout SK1089; near Cat and Fiddle SK0071]. It can often be locally abundant, and even grows in areas of bare eroded peat (Clapham 1969). It is much more frequently seen in flower than fruit, probably due to sheep grazing. It was formerly recorded further east in the Dark Peak than today [Ringinglow Bog SK2583 in 1970] Nationally it is a northern species that is on the southern limit of its English distribution.
Cloudberry was once considered worthy of listing as a Derbyshire Red Data Book species, as there were very few map squares in which it was formally recorded. But survey work for the Derbyshire Flora encouraged hill-walkers to traverse these high moorland expanses and to record the obvious species present. This generated records from areas where few botanists go, and has shown that this plant is far more abundant than had been realised.
