How to tell the difference between black raspberries and blackberries?
Everyone is accustomed to the fact that raspberries are juicy and fragrant berries of red-pink color. However, there is a variety that outwardly does not at all look like ordinary raspberries, but more resembles another berry, a blackberry, and therefore they are often confused, which is what unscrupulous sellers use.
And yet there are some signs by which you can determine which particular berry is on the counter. In addition, even when choosing a seedling and growing them, plants can be distinguished.
The differences between black raspberries and blackberries are as follows:
- shape and structure of berries;
- the appearance and shape of the bush;
- flowering time of bushes and ripening of the crop.
Features of berries
For both crops, the characteristic black color of the fruit, which consists of single-seeded drupes, is the only common feature, because the shape and structure of the berries are different.
Blackberry slightly shines in the sun and has an elongated shape. The pulp is dense, thanks to which they are well stored and do not fall apart during transportation. When harvesting, the berry comes off with a receptacle, while in the center (at the point of separation) a white core is visible.
Raspberries are hollow inside; when collected, the receptacle remains on the branch. The berry itself is also quite dense and keeps its shape well, which, unlike blackberries, is rounded. Like common raspberries, the variety has a slight hairiness on the berries.
Features of the bush
Looking at mature bushes, you can easily distinguish blackberries from black raspberries. The plantings of blackberries are very dense, and the bushes are tall thanks to the long 3-meter shoots. Raspberries grow more freely, and the height of the bush is two times lower.
The color of the shoots is also different:
- in raspberries - light, with a gray-blue tint;
- the blackberry has green.
Significant differences between the two cultures relate to their thorns: blackberries are of decent size, they are strong and thorny: being hooked, it is quite difficult to get rid of the "friendly embrace". In raspberries, they are more fragile, even fleecy, but they are abundantly strewn with branches.
Features of the growing season
Both types of plants are rarely damaged by spring frosts, as they bloom quite late. But if the raspberry begins to bloom at the very beginning of summer, then the blackberry blooms only by the end of its first month (June).
Accordingly, the harvest time for crops is different: raspberries ripens a month earlier and can be removed from the bush in July. As for blackberries, the first ripe berries appear in August.
Blackberries are able to bear fruit until the first frost, while raspberries are gone at the end of summer.