Blackcap Raspberry

The black cap has a white-blue stem with flat, hooked prickles. Small white-pink flowers turn into hollow caps resembling the traditional raspberry that, when ripe, become purplish black rather than red. Most often found in open fields and forests, the black cap raspberry forms dense thickets providing shelter to small animals. Its fruit, which blooms July-August, is used to make dyes in addition to being eaten by humans, bears, birds, rodents, and foxes. The prickly bark and stems are even eaten by bears, beavers, and marmots!