Similar species: Page is under construction. Please see link below for general information on the genus Rubus.

Flowering: late June to late July

Habitat and ecology: Some populations of this species have been introduced, including the Trout Park population in Kane County and the Indiana Dunes State Park population in Porter County.

Occurence in the Chicago region: native

Etymology: Rubus is the Latin name for bramble and also means red. Odoratus means fragrant.

Author: The Morton Arboretum

Widely branched unarmed shrub 1-2 m, becoming densely and coarsely glandular above; lvs subrotund to triangular or reniform in outline, 1-2 dm wide, (3)5-lobed a half or a third their length; the lobes triangular, acute, irregularly serrate; fls rose-purple (white), in a loose, open, widely branched cyme; sep with ±dense purple elongate gland-tipped hairs or bristles; pet obovate, 1.5-2.5 cm; fr depressed, 1 cm thick, dryish and rather insipid, the drupelets tending to fall separately; 2n=14. Moist, shady places and margins of woods; N.S. and Me. to Mich., s. to N.C. and Tenn. June-Aug. (Rubacer o.)

Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

©The New York Botanical Garden. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

In Indiana this species is restricted to the rocky wooded slopes of the high banks of a few streams in the counties shown on the map. I think it prefers a slightly acid soil but when transplanted to a neutral soil it becomes luxuriant.