The brambles are a difficult group of species of apomictic and hybridogenous origin, which are still incompletely studied in Italy. The common bramble is a Mediterranean-Atlantic species present throughout Italy below the upper montane belt. It grows in thickets, in open black pine forests, along the edges of deciduous woods, on stone walls, often forming impenetrable tangles in the last stages of forest degradation, both on limestone and on arenaceous substrates, on fresh to moderately dry soils that are rich in nitrogen compounds. The species is found on the edge of the Sardinian temporary ponds, in contact with mesophilous scrub vegetation. The fruits are edible. The genus name, of ancient use, may derive from the Latin word 'ruber' (red) for the red colour of the fruits of some species (such as raspberry); the species name refers to the leaflets, that have a slightly asymmetric base like those of the elm (genus Ulmus). Flowering period: May to July.

Italian name(s): Rovo a foglie d'Olmo (Italia), Rovo comune (Italia), Rovo santo (Italia).