Blackberry | Description, Types, Nutrition, Uses, & Facts | Britannica

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• Introduction
• Physical description
• Major species

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External Websites

• Arbor Day Foundation - Blackberry Planting and Care Instructions
• Royal Horticultural Society - Fascinating facts: blackberries
• University of Maryland Extension - Growing Raspberries and Blackberries in a Home Garden
• Verywell Fit - Blackberries Nutrition Facts
• UIC Heritage Garden - Blackberry (Rubus fruticosus)
• Pennsylvania State University - Plantvillage - Blackberry
• WebMD - Health Benefits of Blackberries
• Cleveland Clinic - The Small Yet Powerful Blackberry: Why You Should Eat Some Today
• Louisiana State University - College of Agriculture - Growing Blackberries for Pleasure and Profit (PDF)
• Agriculture Victoria - Biosecurity - Weeds information - Blackberry
• Frontiers - Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems - Improving Health Targeted Food Quality of Blackberry: Pear Fruit Synergy Using Lactic Acid Bacterial Fermentation
• NC State Extension - Blackberries for the Home Garden
• National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - Phytochemicals Determination, and Antioxidant, Antimicrobial, Anti-Inflammatory and Anticancer Activities of Blackberry Fruits
• The Spruce - Blackberry Plant Profile
• Agricultural Marketing Resource Center - Blackberry
• Healthline - Blackberries: Health Benefits and Nutrition Information
• Virginia Cooperative Extension - Blackberry Fruit: Nutrition Facts and Health Benefits

Britannica Websites Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.

• blackberry - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)

blackberry fruit Ask Anything Homework Help Written and fact-checked by Britannica Editors Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree.... Britannica Editors Last updated Feb. 20, 2026 •History Britannica AI Ask Anything Table of Contents Table of Contents Ask Anything

blackberry, usually prickly fruit-bearing bush of the genus Rubus of the rose family (Rosaceae) known for its dark edible fruits. Native chiefly to north temperate regions, wild blackberries are particularly abundant in eastern North America and on the Pacific coast of that continent and are cultivated in many areas of North America and Europe. Blackberries are a fairly good source of iron, vitamin C, and antioxidants and are generally eaten fresh, in preserves, or in baked goods such as cobblers and pies.

Physical description

Closely related to raspberries (also in the genus Rubus), blackberry plants have biennial canes (stems) that are characteristically covered with prickles and are erect, semi-erect, or trailing; the thornless blackberry is a modern development. The compound leaves usually feature three or five oval, coarsely toothed, stalked leaflets, many of which persist through the winter. Borne on terminal clusters, the flowers are white, pink, or red and produce black or red-purple fruits. Though commonly called berries, the fruits of Rubus species are technically aggregates of drupelets. Unlike the hollow fruits of raspberries, the drupelets of blackberries remain attached to a juicy white core, thus distinguishing the two.

Related Topics: dewberry bramble cloudberry Rubus ursinus berry (Show more) On the Web: Agriculture Victoria - Biosecurity - Weeds information - Blackberry (Feb. 20, 2026) (Show more) See all related content

Major species

There are tens of thousands of blackberry hybrids and segregates of various types. Several species, notably the cutleaf, or evergreen, blackberry (Rubus laciniatus) and the Himalayan blackberry (R. armeniacus), are invasive species that spread rapidly by animal-mediated seed dispersal and vegetative reproduction. At least two South American Rubus species are listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

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