Transformational Gardening

Black Raspberry (Blackcap) (Rubus occidentalis)

Kingdom	Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision	Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division	Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class	Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass	Rosidae
Order	Rosales
Family	Rosaceae – Rose family
Genus	Rubus L. – blackberry
Species	Rubus occidentalis L. – black raspberry

Black Raspberries eaten fresh.
Fruit was often dried for Winter use. The were either mashed and dried in cakes or dried like raisins on mats in the sun. Water was sometimes added to the dried Black Raspberries before using or eating them.
The Raspberries were used to make wine.
Leaves used to made beverage tea (by infusion).
Root bark used to make beverage tea.
Peeled, young shoots were eaten by some in the Spring.

A decoction made from the root was used to treat back pain.
A decoction made from the root was used to treat stomach pain and bowel complaints.
A decoction made from the root was used to treat diseases of female reproductive organs.
Black Raspberry root was used with St. John's Wort to treat early stages of pulmonary tuberculosis.
A decoction made from the root was used to treat children with whooping cough.
A decoction made from the root was used as an eyewash for sore eyes.
Roots were chewed to treat cough.

1		Native American Ethnobotany by Daniel E. Moerman Timber Press, c1998 ISBN: 0881924539
2		Medicinal and Other Uses of North American Plants: A Historical Survey with Special Reference to Eastern Indian Tribes by Charlotte Erichsen-Brown Dover Publications, c1989 ISBN: 048625951X
3		Food Plants of Interior First Peoples [of British Columbia, Canada] by Nancy J. Turner University of British Columbia Press, c1997 ISBN: 0774806060 Order directly from the publisher. Much less expensive than buying used from Amazon.com, but the web page loads slowly.
4		Food Plants of Coastal First Peoples [of British Columbia, Canada] by Nancy J. Turner University of British Columbia Press, c2007 ISBN: 0772656274 Order directly from the publisher. The web page loads slowly.

Web site created in June 2009. Some pages still under construction. The 2009 gardening exerpeinces and the 2009 foraging experiences are up-to-date. The rest of the links will be added gradually. Sorry for the inconvenience.