Raspberries > Raspberry Trivia and Facts

Raspberry Trivia and Facts

Raspberries are a member of the rose family
The people in the city of Troy were the first to note an appreciation of the raspberry fruit
Martin Van Buren, while campaigning for the presidency in 1840, was said by his opponents to "wallow in raspberries", a shocking extravagance
According to folklore, raspberries were originally white: when Ida (a nymph) pricked her finger while picking berries for the crying infant Jupiter, raspberries were tinged red with her blood. (Today, the botanical name of the raspberry is Rubus idaeus. Rubus means "red", and idaeus means "belonging to Ida")

Raspberry leaves can be used to make a tea with medical properties

Raspberry leaves have been used for centuries as a remedy for menstrual cramps
Most of the U.S. production is on the East Coast and in Washington and Oregon
In the USA there are about 20,000 acres of commercially available raspberries
The raspberry and the blackberry were crossed at the Scottish Crops Research Institute to produce the "Tayberry"
One raspberry weighs 4g on average, and is made up of more than 100 drupelets
Raspberries propagate with "suckers" (basal shoots), and they are a very vigorous and invasive plant. If left unchecked, they can easily take over an entire garden
4 A.D. saw the first writings on the cultivation of raspberries