Wild Raspberry

Rubus idaeus A perennial with woody, biennial stems, common throughout the British Isles in woods and heaths, especially in hilly districts, it flowers from June to August and bears fruit from July to September.

The specific name idaeus was given to the raspberry by Dioscorides because of its abundance on Mount Ida in Asia Minor. Traditionally the village midwife encouraged her patients to drink an infusion of raspberry leaves to make childbirth easier but, as time went on, this old-fashioned aid was largely superseded by imported drugs. However, when these were unobtainable at the beginning of the Second World War, research was carried out and it was discovered that raspberry-leaf tea was no ‘old wives’ tale’ but contained a valuable principle, fragarine, which acted very beneficially on the pelvic muscle of the mother at childbirth.