The raspberry is an aggregate fruit composed of 75 to 125 drupelets. The fruit differ from the blackberry in that the core of the raspberry fruit remains on the plant when picked while the blackberry core becomes part of the edible fruit when harvested. Raspberries may be red, black, purple, or yellow in color. Purple raspberries are hybrids of red and black raspberries and tend to respond in growth habit similar to a black raspberry, although canes may be more vigorous with larger berries. Most yellow raspberries are similar to red raspberries in growth habit.
Standard varieties produce biennial canes on perennial root systems.
Canes produced by standard raspberries in the first growing season will produce fruit during the following summer. The canes will then die back to ground level during the winter. Dead canes must be removed selectively to leave more space for one year old canes that will produce fruit the next summer. Standard raspberry canes must also be trained to a trellis or supported in some manner. Fruiting canes of standard raspberry varieties tend to break dormancy early in the spring and may be damaged by late spring freezes.