r/Berries • u/Few_Blacksmith_6385 • 3d ago

Safe to consume berries?

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Hi, so I found this singular section in my backyard where raspberries started growing, we didn’t plant any seeds. I’m guessing some bird or animal left them and it started to grow. So I’m wondering if these are safe to eat, any toxicity?

301 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

82 comments sorted by

116

u/Dirk_Diggler_Kojak 3d ago

All brambles are safe to eat. That being said, it's always best to wash the fruit first.

55

u/sontanax 3d ago

It's safer to use the genus name, Rubus. Using a common name like "brambles" can pretty easily be confused by people that don't know better, not to mention regional differences or translations of what a bramble is.

9

u/Traditional_Share997 2d ago

Yea where I grew up brambles was anything thorny and bush like

10

u/SizeableBrain 3d ago

Aggregate fruits is better, Rubus limits my options :P~

12

u/sontanax 3d ago

It's supposed to be limiting. Not all aggregate fruits are safe to eat.

1

u/TriteEscapism 2d ago

In North America they are.

5

u/sontanax 2d ago edited 2d ago

No, native North American species might be safe, but introduced species might not be, and there are a lot of introduced species in North America.

1

u/TriteEscapism 2d ago

Any examples?

0

u/Odd_Old_Professional 14h ago

Goldenseal, and some that look like aggregate berries but aren't (jack in the pulpit)

2

u/TriteEscapism 4h ago

Goldenseal is native and also not aggregate so we're still at zero examples.

1

u/paytonnotputain 2d ago

There are many introduced aggregate fruits in NA that are not safe for consumption

1

u/TriteEscapism 2d ago

Can you name one of those many? I'm pretty sure everything that is spreading and growing in the wild is edible and anything toxic is either not truly aggregate or would require coddling in specialized greenhouse because they're from rainforests etc.

3

u/Pademelon1 3d ago

There are still toxic aggregate fruits out there too like goldenseal and unripe lantana

1

u/SizeableBrain 3d ago edited 3d ago

If I remember correctly, goldenseal is not an aggregate fruit and lantana is edible.

Overall, anything that looks like a blackberry is edible, and you'd have to be very unlucky to poison yourself with something that looks remotely like a blackberry.

City folk like to remind each other about how dangerous berries and mushrooms are, but you can taste just about all berries and mushrooms without much danger. I've tried just about every single berry I've encountered and it seems that poisonous ones are very rarely tastly.

24

u/PrpleMnkyDshwsher 3d ago edited 2d ago

Not likely birds, I'm willing to bet you have a neighbor with plants nearby, they spread like crazy underground. The rhizomes like to wander.

13

u/Nheea 3d ago

Wander 😄

7

u/Steven_The_Sloth 3d ago

Don't harsh the rhizomes high man....

1

u/Nheea 2d ago

It's a cute philosophical typo, I must admit.

2

u/PrpleMnkyDshwsher 2d ago

Yeah late night no glasses phone posting

1

u/GoabNZ 2d ago

Wonder if I grow there, there, there, and over there too for good measure.

Wonder if I laugh at human's pitiful attempts to contain me

22

u/SpiritualDesigner119 3d ago

Those are just normal raspberries. Of course they’re safe to eat! They’re delicious! And they cost a fortune at the grocery store! Consider yourself lucky!

8

u/evandemication 2d ago

Definitely ‘poison’ I’ll take them for safe disposal no need to thank me.

13

u/ahhhhhhhhhhfuck 3d ago

Absolutely not - better pick them all and give them to me just to be safe 😌 s/

5

u/freezing_banshee 3d ago

yep, they're good

7

u/FunkyDiabetic1988 3d ago

Yeah dude those are raspberries

6

u/sawyersbar 1d ago

All rubus are foodus.

3

u/Big_Aside9565 3d ago

I don't know a bird could have pooped on em! Then you would get bird flu!

2

u/No_Big_bear_here 3d ago

Lucky you! Yes, enjoy!

2

u/LembicOfLeng 2d ago

Nice.

Raspberries. Yum.

2

u/SweetMaam 3d ago

They are raspberries or red blackberries. Safe.

9

u/Electrical_Fox9678 2d ago

Blackberry does not have a hole in the center. These have a cap shape and are raspberries.

1

u/Oblachko_O 2d ago

Also blackberries are shiny, while raspberries are not.

1

u/Old_Reality9281 3d ago

Of course!

1

u/Bromelia_and_Bismuth 3d ago

The ripe ones are, the underripe ones might upset your stomach.

1

u/ArcticSkyWatcher64N 3d ago

Yes. That's some type of raspberry!

1

u/Mysterious-Street966 3d ago

Reminds me of the Blippi Raspberry song my son is obsessed with…lolz

1

u/crystal_elysium 2d ago

Very lucky, and at this time of year??? Enjoy your raspberry feast! 🤤

1

u/gbudija 2d ago

there are no toxic raspberries so you can freely eat them

1

u/AgateCatCreations076 2d ago

Yep raspberries. Leave the unripened alone for another few days to ripen. Bon appetit'

0

u/GrimThe13th 1d ago

If they are not fully red, don't pick them

1

u/Giffordpinchotpark 1d ago

Mine are yellow raspberries so I shouldn’t eat them?

1

u/minglingsingularity 2d ago

No!! Send them all to me for safe disposal with my mouth

1

u/Moving_goal_posts 2d ago

Yes! Best if they are not picked near a busy road as vehicle emissions contain harmful particles.

1

u/toastedbutter71 2d ago

yes!! wine berries make the best pies too.

1

u/Kind_buddy_7022 2d ago

I’d let them sit in a bowl of water and lemon juice to get all the bugs out. They have thrips on them I’m sure

1

u/Muskyflyguy 2d ago

Beautiful looking berries!

1

u/Signal-Resident-7787 1d ago

Yes, but unless you want extra protein I’d wash it

1

u/dervishmadwhirler 1d ago

Common raspberries can be eaten.

1

u/NaCl_Sailor 1d ago

generally be aware if you are living in areas where foxes live, don't eat berries near the the ground, they could transmit the fox tapeworm

1

u/Senacharrib 14h ago

Oh that’s good advice

1

u/NaCl_Sailor 1d ago

generally be aware if you are living in areas where foxes live, don't eat berries near the the ground, they could transmit the fox tapeworm

1

u/Historical-Two6558 8h ago

Looks like Rubus phoenicolasius, wineberry, very tasty and related to raspberries

1

u/Unlikely-Relief-6462 7h ago

That looks like a pretty well established raspberry plant to me

1

u/Educational_Ruin8882 7h ago

Eat ‘em up. They’re somewhat difficult to keep contained once they really get going. They grow via runners and get everywhere and really aren’t worth the space to grow - unless you have space to spare…

1

u/Radiant-Animator-788 3d ago

My deceased dad always said" Berries of red do not dread ". Don't know if that's true but I'm still alive.🙂

7

u/Mrmojorisincg 3d ago

Yeah no bad call, there are plenty of dangerous red berries. For instance winterberries are poisonous. Like yew, bittersweet, holly berries, all toxic.

1

u/ldevera 2d ago

I wonder if there are any geographical locations where that phrase could be true.

2

u/ForagersLegacy 1d ago

No need to worry about it because it’s a terrible idea to follow that saying…

1

u/sontanax 2d ago

That's bad advice. For example, bittersweet nightshade (Solanum dulcamara) has red berries and is toxic. If you look you can easily find several other examples.

1

u/frogfeen 1d ago

all raspberries are known to be toxic. idk why people sell them at store they are straight up poison

0

u/endeavour269 1d ago

No they aren't.... and buy your logic we shouldn't be selling alcohol either.

1

u/frogfeen 1d ago

LMAO bruh learn when someone is being sarcastic

0

u/Noquarterorder 1d ago

It’s required by Reddit law to put a /s on a sarcastic comment so unknowing people can identify the sarcasm

/s

1

u/frogfeen 22h ago
  1. fuck off /s
  2. sue me /s
  3. the ONE time I forgets the /s guys!! jesus christ (not sarcasm)

1

u/Noquarterorder 21h ago

Next time just hit them with the r/Whoosh

1

u/frogfeen 1h ago

haha noted. thanks :)

0

u/freddbare 2d ago

Location is absolutely vital... But mine are long gone...

-2

u/mrmopar340six 3d ago

Wine berries. Bet they grew near some shale. We have bunches around here we pick each Summer.

7

u/skr_replicator 3d ago

Those are not wineberries, they're just regular raspberries. But of course, also edible.

1

u/mrmopar340six 3d ago

Yeah wine berries have the husk. Both are good and bith have silver color under the leaf. Most of the time raspberries here have blue stalks. Wine berries have fuzzy stems on them.

2

u/skr_replicator 3d ago

The black raspberries (occidentalis) tend to have the blue canes. These look like the european red raspberries (Idaeus), and those do not have the blue. And wineberries have a lot more visual differences. They also have canes with extremely dense red thorns, making the canes look fuzzy red, and shiny red berries in husks, not matte like black and these red raspberries.

1

u/mrmopar340six 3d ago

Our raspberries in Virginia have the blue stalk. Thats how we know them apart in Spring when both start popping up.

1

u/skr_replicator 3d ago

The red ones? I've gos all 3 kinds, idaeus (multiply types, including golden berried ones), occidentalis, and phoenicolasius (wineberry). The wineberries ahve red fuzzy canse, occidentalis are green with the light blue waxy layer (and the fruiting canes are red and glossy), and idaeus are all just green (and also red fruiting canes, like OP's pics). But I guess it might be possible that some other red raspberries might have blue as well, especially if hybridized with occidentalis i guess.

1

u/mrmopar340six 3d ago

Sounds like you have good crips as well. I've been cultivating a small patch of wild strawberries too. They don't yield much but as long as you can keep what we call snakeberries out you're good on those. Strawberries have a white bloom and 3 leaves and snakeberries yellow with 5 leafs.