The synonym of Rubus bambusarum, Rubus henryi var. bambusarum, commemorates Dr Augustine Henry (1857– 1930) who collected plants in China and Taiwan while working for Britain’s Imperial Customs Service. He was of Irish stock, and was educated in Ireland, but qualified in medicine in Edinburgh and became a fluent speaker of Chinese. He arrived in Shanghai in 1881 and from 1882–9 he was assistant medical offi cer in Yichang. He collected extensively in Szechuan and Hubei. He was posted to the island of Huinan (modern-day Hainan), where he collected 750 plants, but was invalided home with malaria. He was transferred to Taiwan (1892–4) where he made further collections and published Notes on economic botany in China (1893). He returned to England, studied law and became a member of the Middle Temple, but after a year returned to China as acting chief commissioner of customs from 1895–1900. He continued collecting. In total, he sent back 15,000 herbarium specimens and 500 plants to Kew, from which 25 new genera and 500 new species were described, but it was EH Wilson who later sent back living specimens of these plants. The next two years were spent at Kew and at the French National School of Forestry at Nancy, during which he commenced to co-author (with HJ Elwes) Trees of Great Britain and Ireland (7 vols, 1913). He became professor of forestry at Cambridge University, (1907–13), then professor of forestry at the Royal College of Science (merged into University College in 1926), Dublin, until his retirement in 1927. His personal herbarium of 10,000 specimens was bequeathed to the National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin.

In traditional medicine the related species Rubus idaeus is considered antiemetic[Triska. Dr. Hamlyn Encyclopaedia of Plants. Hamlyn 1975]. The leaves and roots are anti-inflammatory, astringent, decongestant, ophthalmic, oxytocic and stimulant. A tea made from them is used in the treatment of diarrhoea, as a tonic for the uterus to strengthen pregnant women, and as an aid in childbirth. The tea has also been shown as effective in relieving painful menstrual cramps. The active ingredients both stimulate and relax the uterus[ Foster. S. & Duke. J. A. A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants. Eastern and Central N. America. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1990].