Raspberry

(Rubus idaeus)

Other Names:

American Raspberry, Red Raspberry, Wild Raspberry

Range:

Family:

Rosaceae - Rose Family

Growth Type:

Perennial woody plant, generating biennial canes.

Height:

Canes can grow to 4 feet in length, but are typically shorter.

Stem/Trunk:

Biennial woody canes

Leaves:

The first year canes produce large pinnately compound leaves with five or seven leaflets, but usually no flowers. In its second year, the stem does not grow taller, but produces several side shoots, which bear smaller leaves with three or five leaflets.

Root:

Perennial root system

Flower Season:

Late spring

Flower Appearance:

The flowers are produced on short racemes on the tips of these side shoots, each flower is about 1/2" in diameter with five white petals

Seed/Fruit:

In summer or early autumn, the plant bears fruit. The edible, red, fruit is sweet but tart-flavored. Technically the fruit is not a berry, but an aggregate fruit of numerous drupelets around a central core. When picked, the drupelets separate from the core, leaving a hollow fruit.

Miscellaneous characteristics:

The plant Rubus idaeus is generally the cultivated raspberry. the wild version is often characterized as its own species, Rubus strigosus. One cannot easily be distinguished from the other. Both can be used interchangeably.

Habitat:

The plant typically grows in forests, forming open stands under a tree canopy, and denser stands in clearings.

Parts Used:

Fruit, leaves, shoots

Culinary Uses:

The delicious berries can be eaten fresh as a trail nibble, or used for pies, jams, or compotes.

Energetics:

Taste: Sour
Thermal: Cooling
Humidity: Drying

Traditional Medicinal Uses:

Very high in Folate, vitamin B9, raspberry is an excellent antioxidant. It has shown promise at treating stomach and colon cancers. Raspberry fruit has been used to tone the liver, while the young shoots have been used to treat kidney stones.

Medicinal Actions:

Alterative, Antacid, Antiabortive, Antiemetic, Antimutagenic, Antispasmodic, Astringent, Cardiac Tonic, Hemostatic, Laxative, Tonic: Cardiac, Tonic: Uterine