Wineberry or Wine Raspberry (Rubus phoenicolasius)

Leaves: green tops and white bottoms; Photo by Jil Swearingen

Wineberry is a perennial shrub with long arching canes (stems) up to 9 feet in length. Leaves are alternate and each has three serrated leaflets. Ripe berries are bright red and edible. Canes, leaf stems, and flowering structures are densely covered with purplish-red hairs and small spines. The hairs can give the canes a furry, reddish appearance when seen from a distance. The undersides of leaves appear white, due to a layer of wooly white hairs.

The native red raspberry (Rubus idaeus) is quite similar, but its leaflets tend to be narrower and more pointed and its prickly hairs usually are less numerous and not red in color. The native blackcap raspberry (Rubus occidentalis) has scattered rose-like thorns on stems and flower structures. In both, leaves typically are only pale white on the underside.

Wineberry comes from Asia and has become a serious pest in eastern and Midwestern states. It produces a large number of fruits that are readily eaten and dispersed by birds. Seeds passed by birds sprout and form dense, impenetrable thickets, crowding out native vegetation. It also spreads vegetatively when tips of the canes touch the soil, take root and produce new plants. Wineberry prefers moist soils and plenty of sunlight but can thrive in disturbed areas, wetlands, forest edges, floodplains, open-canopy woodlands and roadsides.

In small areas, the site can be mowed or stems cut, followed by a herbicide treatment of foliage resprouts using triclopyr, metsulfuron-methyl (both are broadleaf specific), or non-selective glyphosate. A cut stump application of glyphosate or triclopyr in the fall can be effective. Plants can be hand-pulled or the roots dug out. Monitor the site to treat resprouts and seedlings.

USDA
Plant Conservation Alliance

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