Fructus Rubi — the dried, unripe, greenish-yellow fruit of Rubus chingii Hu (family Rosaceae). This is the standard Chinese item and it is a different species from the European red raspberry Rubus idaeus.
Nature and flavour. Sweet and sour, slightly warm. Liver, Kidney and Bladder systems.
The name is a genuine trap and it needs to be stated plainly at the head of any entry. The European raspberry is Rubus idaeus; the Chinese drug 覆盆子 is the unripe fruit of Rubus chingii, gathered green and dried. They are related plants, they are not the same drug, and the English word raspberry on a label tells you nothing about which one is in the packet. In Chinese practice the drug is used for what the texts call kidney insecurity — frequent urination, enuresis, involuntary loss of semen — and for the traditional pairing of diminishing vision with liver-kidney depletion, which is why it appears alongside the classic eye-supporting drugs. The clinical claims are not established.
性味归经。甘、酸，微温。归肝、肾、膀胱经。
这个名字本身是个实在的陷阱，任何条目开头都该先说清楚。欧洲树莓是 Rubus idaeus；中药覆盆子是掌叶覆盆子 Rubus chingii 的未成熟果实，采时色青黄，干燥入药。两者是近缘植物，却不是同一味药，标签上的英文 raspberry 完全不能告诉你袋子里是哪一种。中医用它针对古籍所称的肾气不固——尿频、遗尿、失精；也用于视力减退与肝肾亏虚的传统配伍，这是它常与古典明目药同用的原因。其临床主张尚未被证实。
不要看到英文名就当成厨房里的那种果子。英语世界被引用最多的民间用法是「覆盆子叶茶助产」，那是欧洲传统，指的是另一物种的叶子，缺乏良好证据支持，孕期不应自行使用；它与中药覆盆子并无关系。孕期与哺乳期中药品的证据缺如。尿频与夜尿在未排除糖尿病、尿路感染、前列腺疾病、睡眠呼吸暂停与利尿药之前，不应先归为肾虚。蔷薇科过敏者须留意。与所有收涩药一样，便秘与热证型情形方向相反，不宜。