Wineberry announces itself with its stems before anything else: densely covered in red glandular hairs that glow when backlit by low winter sun. Native to clearings and low-elevation forests across Japan and China, it was introduced to North America as a breeding plant for raspberry cultivation and has since escaped into disturbed habitats across much of the eastern United States. Several New England states have banned it outright, though North Carolina has not yet listed it as invasive or noxious.

The plant grows to nine feet with arching canes and rounded leaflets, and the burgundy-tinted flowers appear in June and July. The fruit ripens in August and September, sweet and juicy with small seeds in the raspberry style. Flavor is pleasant though not as complex as cultivated raspberries. Sandy, loamy, and clay soils all work well, with a preference for moist and well-drained conditions in semi-shade to full sun. Those who plant it should monitor spread carefully; its thicket-forming tendency is real, and the appealing winter stems do not change the fact that this species can become very weedy in favorable conditions.