At the beginning of the month, these purple-flowered raspberries were just coming into bloom. By now they should be producing their fuzzy berries. These plants (Rubus odoratus) are native to eastern North America; their cousins, which I grew up calling "thimbleberries" are native to the western part of the continent.
The flowers have five petals, and the leaves look a bit like maple leaves, with five lobes. The fruit looks like a red raspberry but is flatter and a bit drier. And then there's the fuzziness... it doesn't seem to deter the birds and small mammals, though, because these berries tend to disappear off the bushes pretty fast.
What kinds of berries grow around your neighborhood?
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