_Rubus odoratus_
_Flowers_--Royal purple or bluish pink, showy, fragrant, 1 to 2 in.
broad, loosely clustered at top of stem. Calyx sticky-hairy, deeply
5-parted, with long, pointed tips; corolla of 5 rounded petals; stamens
and pistils very numerous. _Stem_: 3 to 5 ft. high, erect, branched,
shrubby, bristly, not prickly. _Leaves_: Alternate, petioled, 3 to 5
lobed, middle lobe largest, and all pointed; saw-edged lower leaves
immense. _Fruit_: A depressed red berry, scarcely edible.
_Preferred Habitat_--Rocky woods, dells, shady roadsides.
_Flowering Season_--June-August.
_Distribution_--Northern Canada south to Georgia, westward to Michigan
and Tennessee.
To be an unappreciated, unloved relative of the exquisite wild rose,
with which this flower is so often likened, must be a similar
misfortune to being the untalented son of a great man, or the unhappy
author of a successful first book never equalled in later attempts. But
where the bright blossoms of the Virginia raspberry burst forth above
the roadside tangle and shady woodland dells, even those who despise
magenta see beauty in them where abundant green tones all discordant
notes into harmony. Purple, as we of to-day understand the color, the
flower is not; but rather the purple of ancient Orientals. On cool,
cloudy days the petals are a deep rose that fades into bluish pink when
the sun is hot.