Rubus parkeri Hance

A deciduous shrub of climbing habit; stems biennial, round, slender, armed with short, scattered, decurved spines, and thickly covered with greyish hairs, many of them gland-tipped. Leaves simple, broadly lanceolate, long-pointed, heart-shaped at the base, 4 to 7 in. long, about half as wide, the margins wavy, and sharply and finely toothed; upper surface bristly, especially along the midrib and veins, the lower one covered with a dense brownish red down; leaf-stalk up to 1 in. long, hairy and prickly. Flowers borne on an elongated, lax panicle, the calyx being remarkable for its dense covering of reddish glandular hairs. Fruits black, ripening early.

Native of China, where it was originally discovered in the province of Szechwan by E. H. Parker, in 1881; introduced in 1907 by Wilson, who found it near Ichang. This bramble has distinct and striking foliage, and its habit is elegant.