Wineberry

About

An East Asian raspberry with bristly red canes that forms dense thickets in eastern woods and yard edges. It shades out native plants, but the berries are edible, and because it lacks a big underground storage system, digging it out works well.

Also called wine raspberry

How to identify it

Look for

Arching canes 3 to 10 feet long are covered in dense reddish-purple glandular hairs with small prickles, so they look red from a distance. Leaves have 3 (sometimes 5) broad, coarsely toothed leaflets that are bright white and woolly underneath. Small white flowers with red-bristly sepals bloom in late spring, and bright red raspberries ripen in midsummer.

Look-alikes

Native raspberries and blackberries have green to grayish leaf undersides and lack the dense red hairs on their canes.

Where it grows

Woodland edges, canopy gaps, old fields, stream edges, trails and shady yard borders.

When

Flowers in late spring to early summer, and berries ripen in midsummer.

How it spreads

Cane tips root where they touch the ground, roots send up sprouts, and birds and mammals spread the seeds.

Most common in

Where it is regulated

Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and Wisconsin regulate or restrict it; Wisconsin lists it as prohibited.

What to do, gentlest first

Start at the top. Weed killers are a last step; always read and follow the label.

1. Keep canes from rooting Prevent

   Pull seedlings while small and cut canes before they arch over and root at the tips.

2. Dig it out By hand

   Dig out plants, roots and all; the roots are fibrous without a big storage system, so digging works well. Or cut all canes to the ground and keep removing regrowth.

   Gloves and long sleeves help with the bristles and prickles.

3. Triclopyr or glyphosate Conventional spray

   Spray resprouts with triclopyr or glyphosate, or treat cut stumps with either in fall.

   Read and follow the label. Many lawn and brush killers also harm garden plants, so keep spray and drift off anything you want to keep. Replant bare areas with native plants and watch for resprouts.

Uses, wildlife and pets

Edible?

The ripe red berries are edible and sweet (University of Maryland Extension). Be sure of the plant, and don't pick where it may have been sprayed.

Not 100% sure? Don't eat it. Never pick from ground that may have been sprayed, or along roads and railways.

For wildlife

Birds and mammals eat the berries, which spreads the seeds.

Pets

Not listed as toxic by the ASPCA