An updated checklist of the genus Rubus (Rosaceae), a proposal of a new name, Rubus subbeskidensis, and an analysis of micro-hotspots of bramble diversity in Poland

The genus Rubus is among the most taxonomically complex and species-rich groups of vascular plants in Europe, owing to extensive morphological variation, polyploidy, facultative apomixis and frequent hybridisation. An updated checklist of the genus Rubus in Poland, presented here, comprises 113 taxa, including 106 native species and seven established alien taxa; 12 species occur exclusively in Poland and are treated as regional endemics.

An illegitimate later homonym, Rubus magurensis, is replaced here with the new name, Rubus subbeskidensis. Using 88,934 verified records from the ATPOL database, spatial patterns of species richness are analysed and seven regional micro-hotspots of Rubus diversity in Poland are identified. The highest concentrations of species are located in south-western Poland, particularly in the Kotlina Kłodzka Basin, the Moravian Gate and the forelands of the northern Carpathians.

Phytogeographical analyses of the distribution patterns of all brambles occurring in Poland allow the recognition of four distinct geographical elements, comprising species reaching their northern, north-eastern, western and southern distribution limits in Poland. The distribution patterns of selected species groups depend mainly on specific bioclimatic factors determining the occurrence of individual species.