Salmonberry

Rubus spectabilis is a deciduous shrub of the rose family growing 1-4 m tall with erect, slightly arching biennial canes that are armed with sparse weak prickles, particularly on younger growth, and develop a yellowish to coppery-brown shreddy bark with age. Leaves are alternate, trifoliolate, with ovate, doubly serrate leaflets 4-12 cm long; the terminal leaflet is largest and often shallowly three-lobed. Showy bright magenta to deep pink flowers 2-4 cm across appear singly or in pairs on short lateral shoots before or with the leaves; petals are five, broadly elliptic, often somewhat crumpled. The aggregate fruits are glossy, soft, salmon-orange to red, occasionally yellow, raspberry-like drupelets that detach cleanly from the receptacle when ripe. Native to moist coastal forests, streamsides, and clearings of the Pacific Northwest from Alaska to northern California, the species flowers in early spring and fruits in early summer.