The Differences in BlackBerries

• Blackberries flourish in the wild. PHOTO 24/Brand X Pictures/Getty Images

  Wild blackberries are also referred to brambles. While some blackberry species provide food for forest animals, the difference between others is that some are considered weeds, while others are cultivated for their tasty berries. Wild blackberries flourish along trail edges and roadsides, and some thornless species thrive in gardens.

Weed Blackberries

• There are four species of wild blackberries that are considered weeds. These are the cut leaf blackberry, Himalaya blackberry, thimbleberry, and the California blackberry. Thimbleberry is the only wild blackberry plant that is not a vine. The Himalaya and the cut leaf have five prickly angled stems and a cluster of leaves and blooming flowers. The California blackberry has only three leaf stems.

Common Blackberry

• Common blackberries grow in the wild and have toothed-shaped leaves that grow in clusters called leaflets. White or light pink petaled flowers bloom on these vine plants. The blackberry is one-half to one and a half inches long and grows along stems that can measure up to nine feet tall. The roots are perennial and grow rapidly in the spring and summer. The berries are actually small clusters of individual berries clumped together.

Dewberry

• The dewberry species is a hearty vine plant with very sharp thorny stems. Use these as boundary cover in your landscaping as the prickly thorns provide protection from animals.

Marionberry

• The marionberry is a blackberry developed from two species of evergreen blackberries found in Oregon's Willamette Valley. The distinctive shape, taste and aroma set them apart from other blackberries and are widely preferred in the culinary field.