Red Raspberry. The species is indigenous to Asia Minor and North America, although the epithet denotes Mt. Ida, in the Caucasus mountains of Asia Minor. Fruits were gathered from the wild by the people of Troy and the foothills of Mt. Ida around the time of Christ. Records of domestication were found in 4th century writings of Palladius, a Roman agriculturist, and seeds have been discovered at Roman forts in Britain; hence, the Romans probably spread cultivation throughout Europe. The British popularized and improved raspberries throughout the middle ages, and exported the plants to New York by 1771.

Black Raspberry. This species is indigenous only to North America, where it is most abundant in the east, exclusive of the Gulf states, and found in the west along with related R. leucodermis. Domestication appears to have been delayed until the 1800s, due to the popularity of red raspberries and abundant supply of wild fruit. In 1850, H.H. Doolittle discovered tip layerage as an efficient propagation method, and released 'Doolittle'. A rival of his released 'Doomore' shortly therafter, but both were superseded by 'Ohio Everbearer'. By 1880, there were at least 17 named cultivars, and several thousand acres under cultivation in New York.