RUBUS IDÆUS (U. S. P.)—RASPBERRY. History and Description

Rubus Idæus, or cultivated raspberry, is indigenous to Europe and to Asia, eastward to Japan, where the red raspberry is likewise found. The Red raspberry grows wild, and is common to Canada and the northern United States, growing in hedges, neglected fields, thickets, and hills, flowering in May, and ripening its fruit from June to August. The leaves and fruit are the medicinal parts. The leaves impart their properties to water, giving to the infusion an odor and flavor somewhat similar to that of some kinds of black tea. The U. S. P. describes Rubus Idæus fruit as follows: "Deprived of the conical receptacle, and, therefore, hollow at the base; hemispherical, red, finely hairy, composed of from 20 to 30 coalesced, small drupes, each one crowned with the withered style; juice red; of an agreeable odor, and a pleasant, acidulous taste. The closely allied, light-red fruit of Rubus strigosus, Michaux, and the purplish-black fruit of Rubus occidentalis, Linné, may be employed in place of the above"—(U. S. P.). The Rubus occidentalis is the Black raspberry, or Thimbleberry, common in waste places and fence corners from Canada to Georgia, and west. Its fruit is inferior to that of the preceding varieties.