After talking about Black Raspberries (Rubus occidentalis) with a dear friend just yesterday – what do I come upon today, but ripe Black Raspberries. A look alike, the Blackberry (Rubus allegheniensis) will not be ripe for another month.

Before I mention the differences between the berries, I want to mention that the plants themselves look a quite different, the canes in particular. It always strikes me when I see a Black Raspberry bush, the color of the canes surprise me, a very pale green-blue color.

The berries certainly look alike but there are differences. The Black Raspberry, aside from getting ripe much earlier, is a smaller, quite round berry. The Blackberry, as you can see in the photograph, is longer than it is wide, and depending on how much rainfall there is, it is usually a larger berry. I expect this year, the Blackberries are going to be quite small, due to lack of rain. That is unless we get a lot of rain in the next month.

The taste of the berries is quite different. The Black Raspberry is delightfully sweet, while the Blackberry has an earthy, sour flavor. The seeds of the two berries are different too. As you eat them, the seeds of the Black Raspberry are not nearly as noticeable as the seeds of the Blackberry which seem to be prominent. When harvesting the berries you will see that the two look different. The Black Raspberry is hollow, while the Blackberry has a pale green center. And finally the Blackberry is quite shiny, while the Black Raspberry has a white bloom, much like a Blueberry has.

Goodness. All this yummy berry talk has me getting hungry. I should have picked more of those Black Raspberries.

_______________________________________________________________________

If you would like to receive my daily blog posts by email, sign up here!