What are Some Unusual Types of Berries?

You may be surprised to know there are over 20 different types of unusual berries in North America alone. This does not include many fruits that have the name "berry" but actually do not belong to the same family, such as is the case of strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, and boysenberries. These four fruits, which are sometimes considered part of the group of unusual berries, are actually aggregate fruits.

Some types of unusual berries that are easily available include the black current, which is often used in preserves; the dewberry, which is similar to the blackberry, except smaller; and elderberries, popular in the making of wines and jams.

Many unusual berries available in the market are actually man-made crosses created to have faster growth, resilience to harsh weather, or larger size. This is the case of the boysenberry, which was created to be soft in flavor and without seeds; boysenberries are a cross among loganberries, raspberries, and blackberries. Olallieberries are unusual berries that resulted from the cross between loganberries and youngberries, itself a man-made berry.

Gooseberries are another example of unusual berries, with the added characteristic that American gooseberries are extremely different to European gooseberries in size, flavor (acidic vs. sweet), and format. Seaberries are unusual berries that grow in cold weather and only in a few countries around the world. They are popular in Russia, where they are used to make tea.

Mulberries are unusual berries that are hard to find in the marketplace because of their fragility. Soft and semi-sweet, the mulberries are more often consumed by people who have a tree in their backyard or know how to identify them in the wild when fruit picking. Saskatoons are another type of unusual berries that are not commercially grown. Popular among Native Americans, the saskatoons grow in hardy soil and have a distinctive flavor that is not similar to any other known berry.

Many types of unusual berries can be found in North America only in specialty or gourmet stores, or they can be home grown from seeds or cuttings.