Growing form and height

Shrub. Rootstock perennial, aerial stems biennial. 0.5–1.5 m (1.5–5 ft.).
Flower

Small, regular (actinomorphic). Calyx-lobes five, longer than petals. Petals five, free, white. Carpels free, many. Stamens numerous. Long-stalked flowers form a corymb-like raceme.
Leaves

Alternate. Stalked, odd-pinnate, leaflet pairs two to three, three on flowering branches. Leaflets elliptic, serrate, downy-white or greyish beneath.
Fruit

Red, rarely yellow or yellowish-white, soft aggregate of drupes.
Habitat

Rocky hills, rock outcrops, forest clearings, margins of roads, fields, and forests, waterside thickets. Also cultivated, sometimes an escape.
Flowering time

June–July.

Raspberry belongs to the genus Rubus (brambles, blackberries) which is a large and diverse, cosmopolitan group. It is taxonomically difficult as many species hybridise. The brambles are herbs or suckering shrubs. The aerial shoots may also be creeping or scrambling, and are often prickly. The leaves are usually compound or lobed. The fruit is an aggregate of drupes. Some of the species produce economically important berries, and many of these are cultivated.

Raspberry is a suckering, nitrophilous shrub whose aerial stems are biennial, erect or somewhat arching. In its first season the prickly stem is green an unbranched, but becomes woody towards the autumn. Only in the second year it branches, flowers, and produces berries. After this the stem dies. The berries of this species are aromatic, and desired for making jam, squash, and liqueur. The dried leaves are used as a herbal medicine and for making tea.

Raspberry

Taxonomy

Family

Subfamily

Tribe

Genus

Species