Japanese name: ニガイチゴ（苦苺） Scientific name:Rubus microphyllus
[Overview]
A deciduous low shrub found at forest edges and similar places.
The stems and branches are tinged with a powdery white and bear slender thorns that extend horizontally.
The leaves are alternate, 2–8 cm long and 1.5–4 cm wide, ovate-round and palmately 3-lobed, though the depth of the lobing varies greatly.
The undersides of the leaves are tinged with white.
The leaf margins are serrated.
White 5-petaled flowers 2–2.5 cm across face upward, usually borne singly.
The petals are narrow, and the gaps between them are conspicuous.
The calyx has white hairs on the inside and along the margin.
The flower stalk is 1–2.5 cm long and has thorns.
The fruit is a spherical aggregate fruit about 1 cm across that ripens red; it is edible but bitter.
[Notes]
The name comes from the bitterness of the fruit.
