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Acidic wet-mesic sand prairie on beach ridge plain with sand flatwoods nearby.

Stems trailing and sparsely covered with recurved prickles that are distinctly broad-based on the floricanes. Inflorescences with a single flower with pedicels about as long as or not "much longer" than their bracteal leaves. Leaves pubescent abaxially on the veins and sparsely so on the laminae, but not velvety pubescent nor whitened.

This plant keys out best to Rubus baileyanus in Vascular Flora of Illinois although it is not recorded for anywhere near Cook County in Illinois, according to Mohlenbrock.

This also keys out well to R. meracus in Flora of the Chicago Region, keying out to R. meracus whether the inflorescence is assumed to be glandular or not. The habitats noted for this species in Flora of the Chicago Region specifically include sand flatwoods and wet to dry prairies with a general preference for sandy soils. R. baileyanus is noted as also preferring sandy soils, but in mesic to dry situations. But the concept for this species excludes plants with pubescent abaxial laminae according to Wilhelm and Rericha. However, this plant would key out to R. baileyanus here if it is assumed to be eglandular and interpreted as being abaxially pubescent only along the major veins.

I believe that R. meracus may be the best fit here, but since there does seem to be confusion regarding the concept of this species and since both R. meracus and R. baileyanus are considered synonyms of R. flagellaris in Flora of North America, I have decided to ID this to a broader circumscription of R. flagellaris.