0491 



PURPLE FLOWERING RASPBERRY 



Family: ROSACEAE. 



Reproductive system: ICOSANDRY, POLYGYNY. 



Of all the naturalized ornamental plants in our climate, the purple flowering 

 raspberry, Ruhus odoratus, LINN., is one of the most beautiful with its broad foliage and 

 its pretty flowers. It's commonly called bramble, a name we use only for useless and 

 troublesome plants. That's because the characteristics of its flowers and fruit resemble 

 those of the common bramble. But instead of being a creeping plant full of thorns, it 

 forms an upright shrub four to six feet tall subdivided into diffuse branches. There are no 

 thorns on the stem; instead it's covered with very many stiff hairs. The leaves are 

 alternate, petiolate, simple, very large, smooth on both sides, green above and whitish 

 underneath. They're palmate, or rather divided into three or five pointed lobes that are 

 irregularly toothed on the margins. They're borne on upright petioles that are grooved, 

 hairy, and the same length as the leaves. The flowers are arranged in small, terminal 

 axillary corymbs. The calyx has five oval sections that terminate in a subulate point. The 

 large corolla is a beautiful violet-pink and consists of five oval petals that are almost 

 round and very open. There are a large number of stamens and pistils. They're followed 

 by deep red globular fruits joined together in the form of a berry. 



FLOWERS: during June and August. 



RANGE: the high mountains of Canada. The shrub has been naturalized in Europe 

 for about a century. It was cultivated in England in 1739. 



USES. There's no known medical use for this plant. It can add variety to our 

 parterres and to parks. 



