All fruits are vehicles designed to spread seeds. The tasty structures attract animals, who eat them up and disperse the seeds via droppings—often far from the parent plant.

Every fruit grows from the pistil—the reproductive organ of a flower. The plant kingdom has evolved different fruiting strategies in search of the best chance of survival: simple, aggregate, multiple, and accessory.¹ Each approach reflects a different evolutionary tradeoff—balancing efficiency, seed quantity, and how much it invests in juicy temptation.

Simple fruits form from a single pistil of a single flower. Examples include blueberries, peaches, and apples.

Aggregate fruits form when a single flower has many pistils—each one becomes a tiny fruit called a drupelet, and they cluster together into one larger fruit. Blackberries, raspberries, and olallieberries are all aggregate fruits.

Multiple fruits form when the pistils of many flowers in a tight cluster fuse into a single fruit. Pineapples and jackfruit grow this way—many flowers working together to make one big, showy fruit.

Accessory fruits develop from the pistil, and also other parts of the flower. A strawberry is a classic example: the red, fleshy part develops from the receptacle (the flower’s base), while the actual fruits are the tiny “seeds” (achenes) on the surface—each one developed from its own pistil.

Blackberry, why so thorny?

If the berry is meant to be eaten to spread its seeds, why does the blackberry surround itself with barbed wire? It seems self-defeating.

What appears to be a contradiction may actually be quite clever. The thorns protect the plant’s leaves, stems, and unripe fruit from large animals that might strip the whole plant and dump all the seeds in one big pile—not very far away. Instead, the thorns act as a kind of filter—allowing smaller animals like birds to sneak in, eat a few ripe berries, and carry the seeds far and wide.²

Science, of course, found a way around the thorns. Just over the hill from Rootstock HQ, in Santa Cruz, California, judge and horticulturist James Harvey Logan (hence the close relative: the Loganberry) developed the first thornless blackberry in 1921. It wasn’t especially flavorful—but modern breeding has since taken care of that too.

Uses for Blackberries

There’s evidence that humans have been using blackberries since shortly after the Ice Age—as both food and medicine. The ancient Greeks, despite dealing with all sorts of maladies, seem to have prized blackberries mainly as a hair dye, smashing them into graying hair rather than eating them to cure dysentery.

One of the earliest known references to blackberries appears in the Juliana Anicia Codex, a medical manuscript created around 515 AD in Constantinople. Its chapter on blackberries lists them as a treatment for droopy eyes, mouth sores, hemorrhoids, and snakebites.³

Climate-Friendly, Climate-Resilient

Blackberries have been with us since the last Ice Age—and they may help prevent the next one from coming too soon.

As a perennial crop, blackberries grow on the same brambles year after year. That means no replanting, less soil disturbance, and more carbon stored in roots and woody canes. Grown organically and regeneratively, they require fewer inputs than many annual fruits, and their flowers support pollinators critical to resilient ecosystems.

Because they thrive in temperate regions—including the California coast—they can often be grown close to home, reducing transportation emissions. And while drought can affect yields, blackberries are more water-wise than many fruits, especially when mulched and grown in healthy soil. Blackberries nourish both people and planet.(4)

So Grab Some and Feel Good

We recommend eating them straight from the container before they disappear. Or toss them into a smoothie, a salad, or your next berry crumble.

Sources

1 Fruit Types and Development. LibreTexts Biology. https://bio.libretexts.org/.../Development_of_Fruit_and_Fruit_Types

2 Why Do Brambles Have Thorns and Delicious Fruit? Reddit r/AskScience. https://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/1ouegy

3 Hummer, K. E. Rubus Pharmacology: Antiquity to the Present. Purdue University. https://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/janick-papers/Healing,Health,Hort.Workshop.pdf

4 Rubus fruticosus (Blackberry). Plants for a Future. https://pfaf.org/user/plant.aspx?latinname=Rubus+fruticosus

Blackberries: Sending Mixed Signals Since the Ice Age

Rootstock Gazette

They pollinate our fruit. Let’s return the favor.