Blackberries

The blackberry of common speech is not one but some two dozen species of plants in the genus Rubus, native to America, Europe, and Asia. All have in common a fruit composed of drupelets (small, round, juicy parts) arranged upon a pithy central core. It is this core, which detaches intact from the fruit stem, that distinguishes blackberries from the other group of bramble species, the raspberries; in blackberries, the adherence of drupelets to the core gives the fruit a solidity lacking in raspberries. Since blackberries do not decompose when heated, they are suitable for cooking.