Not to be confused with a construction firm or a luxury hotel, it is an aggregate fruit with physical similarities to raspberries, the main difference being that the dewberries are a darker color, usually purple or black. The plant itself is a bramble, a member of the Rubus genus, which is in turn part of the rose family.

The dewberry is native to North America, and it has quite fervent support amongst those that have eaten it. That being said, classifying dewberries is a bit of a difficult task. Part of this can be traced back to poor record keeping habits insofar as food is concerned in the 17th and 18th centuries in the Americas; the term “blackberry” was used rather liberally. In the modern era, we also have plenty of cases where the term dewberry is used for berries that are actually blackberries. On top of this, different breeding programs, meant to help cultivate different berries, muddied the waters further. Members of the rubus genus were crossed at different points, including blackberries, raspberries, and dewberries.

Dewberry brambles tend to grow quickly, just like blackberries. However, the fruit tends to be smaller than blackberries. Additionally, dewberries tend to grow with stems going along the ground whereas blackberries tend to grow upright.