Rubus is a genus of plantin the family Rosaceae. Rosaceae is one of the largest families of flowering plants with about 3,400 species, including apples, berries, peaches, plums, cherries, the hawthorn tree, the mountain ash, and many others.
Plants in the Rubus genus have prickles like roses and are often called brambles; this name is most often used for the blackberry and similar fruits that are also of rambling habit, and not used for those like the raspberry that grow as upright canes. The fruit of Rubus plants is called bramble fruit and is an aggregate of drupelets.
Only Rubus idaeus is considered in this article. Rubus idaeus is sometimes called the European red raspberry to distinguish it from R. strigosus, which is called the American red raspberry. However, many taxonomists consider these the same species, with the American red raspberry as a subspecies or variety of R. idaeus.
The flower and fruit of the raspberry, which are important for the raspberry's individual purpose of reproduction, also provide larger values for the ecosystem and for human beings. Ecologically, the raspberry flower is a nectar source for honeybees, and the fruit is consumed by numerous animals.
For humans, the fruit is popular not only for its pleasing taste, color, and texture, but also offers nutritional and medicinal values. It sometimes has been called a "women's herb" for its aid to women during pregnancy and with their menstrual cycles, but it also has been used to address gastrointestinal disorders and mouth and throat sores, and has been considered helpful in preventing cancer and assisting people with diabetes.