| Author | (Linnaeus) Rydberg | |
| Distribution | Previously known as Rubus odoratus. Throughout the Mountains, and records exist for essentially all such counties. There is also a specimen record for Randolph County, where apparently not native.
This is a Northern species, obviously, being found in essentially every county through New England, NY, and PA south in the mountains to northern GA and northeastern AL.
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| Abundance | Fairly common to common, more so at middle to rather high elevations. Apparently absent as a native species outside the Mountains. | |
| Habitat | This species occurs generally on rich, often high pH soil, more frequent in rocky areas. It favors edges and openings of rich, rocky forests, margins of cove forests, road cuts, seepages, and other semi-open sites. | |
| Phenology | Blooms in mid-summer, mainly June to August; fruits from July to frost. | |
| Identification | To most people, this is not even similar to a blackberry and should be in its own genus, owing to a number of features; in fact, it was moved by several authors in 2020 to a genus with just two species -- Rubacer. It is a small deciduous shrub, often seeming to be a large herb, growing to 2-5 feet high. It is easily recognized by the quite large maple-like leaves with 3-5 lobes, with the leaves averaging 5-6 inches across. When in bloom, the large rose-purple flowers, each about 1.5-2 inches across, definitely catch your attention. The plants are easily visible, especially in summer when blooming, as one drives the Blue Ridge Parkway or other roads passing through rich or rocky forests, as the plants favor road cuts and rocky margins. | |
| Taxonomic Comments | A century ago it was named as Rubacer odoratum, as it looks like a cross between a blackberry and a maple! Weakley (2020) did move this species from Rubus to that genus.
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| Other Common Name(s) | Often named simply as Flowering Raspberry; occasionally Virginia Raspberry, Thimbleberry, Eastern Mapleleaf Raspberry | |
| State Rank | S4 | |
| Global Rank | G5 | |
| State Status | | |
| US Status | | |
| USACE-agcp | | |
| USACE-emp | | |
