I spotted some native raspberries a few weeks back when on a bushwalk. I tasted a few but found them rather tasteless.

Back home I learnt that what I'd tasted was probably Rubus rosifolius, commonly known as Native Raspberry or Rose Rose-leaf Bramble.

It's described as having 'edible but insipid' fruit.

Definition of inspid: 'lacking taste or savor : tasteless'

Yep, that's what I tasted.

But apparently there's other Australian native raspberries that taste good

The Small Leaf Bramble (Rubus parvifolius) apparently has fruit that 'varies immensely in quality but when it's good, it's very, very good'.

A tea made from the leaves of Molucca Bramble is known to relieve upset stomachs. 

The gorgeous Atherton Raspberry (Rubus probus) is so good its commercially cultivated and sold as a punnet fruit and widely grown as a garden plant.

There's actually 10 native raspberries known within Australia - but thankfully all have edible fruit, so you don't need to worry too much about working out which Rubus species you have. Although - for the super keen you can even get an interactive CD ROM which will help you identify any species of Rubus presently known to occur in Australia (including the numerous introduced Blackberry species).

Have you noticed or even tasted native Raspberries?

This post is part of the Foraging Friday series. I’m sharing a Foraging Friday post each fortnight – on the Second and Fourth Friday of each month. I welcome you to join me by sharing a recent foraging experience in the comment section or by leaving a link to your own Foraging Friday post.