Rubus idaeus
Sp. Pl. 1: 492. 1753.
Shrubs, 5–25 dm, armed or unarmed. Stems biennial, erect, glabrescent, eglandular or stipitate-glandular, strongly pruinose; prickles absent or sparse to dense, erect, weak, 1–4 mm, broad-based; bristles present or absent. Leaves deciduous, pinnately compound; stipules filiform, 5–10 mm; petiole unarmed or with prickles, strigose or glabrous, glandular or eglandular; terminal leaflets petiolulate, lateral sessile or subsessile; leaflets 3–5(–7), terminal ovate to lanceolate, 7–15 × 4–11 cm, base rounded to cordate, unlobed or 2-lobed, margins serrate to doubly serrate, apex acute to attenuate, abaxial surfaces unarmed or with prickles, strongly white-tomentose, eglandular or glandular. Inflorescences terminal and axillary, (1–)3–7(–20)-flowered, racemiform. Pedicels unarmed or prickles sparse, hooked, glabrous or sparsely pubescent, stipitate-glandular or eglandular. Flowers bisexual; petals white to greenish white, spatulate to obovate, 5–10 mm; filaments filiform or slightly dilated basally; ovaries pubescent. Fruits usually red to whitish, rarely amber, globose to conic, 0.5–2 cm; drupelets 10–60, coherent, separating from torus.
Distribution
North America, Mexico, Eurasia, Africa.
Discussion
Subspecies 2 (2 in the flora).
Rubus idaeus is the source of most of the cultivated red and amber raspberries. Plants were used by the Cherokee, Cree, and others as a parturient; an infusion of dried leaves in water was used to prepare the uterus for childbirth and help women recover after childbirth (D. E. Moerman 1998; D. Hoffman 2003).
Selected References
None.
Key
| 1 | Stems eglandular 13a | Rubus idaeus subsp. idaeus |
| 1 | Stems stipitate-glandular. | Rubus idaeus subsp. strigosus |