How to Identify Raspberries & Blackberries

Raspberries and blackberries have a lot in common. They are both brambles and grow on canes. Both have colors during the cycle toward maturity that may cause berries to be green, red or black. There is one definitive way to tell the two berries apart. When a ripe blackberry is picked, it is solid. When a ripe raspberry is picked, the berry is hollow and leaves behind a receptacle on the stem of the plant. There are other ways to identify the berries, however, they're not quite as easy as the "picking test."

Instructions

- 1
  Visually examine the plant. Blackberries and raspberries grow in varieties that include erect canes, semi-erect canes and trailing canes. Canes can grow to 15 feet in length. These canes produce shoots. Some blackberry and raspberry canes include thorns.
- 2
  Note the flowers on the plant, which are usually visible between mid-summer and late-summer depending upon your location. Both berry plants produce flowers that are white to pink in color. Blackberry flowers have larger flowers than raspberry flowers in most species.
- 3
  Examine the berry. The fruit is an aggregate fruit. This means each berry is formed of many smaller fruits known as drupelets. Raspberry drupelets stick to one another and have an almost hairy texture. The actual berry can range in size from a 1/2 inch to 1 1/4 inches in length, depending on the particular variety. Blackberry drupelets are smooth and plumper than the raspberries. A blackberry fruit will generally be between a half inch and inch in length. However, there are a couple varieties that will occasionally produce berries that are 2 inches long.

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