The round-shaped fruit is a 12-to-15-millimetre (0.47 to 0.59 in) diameter aggregation of drupelets; it is edible, and has a high content of anthocyanins and ellagic acid.

[7][8] Long stems also called canes grow up to 1.8 metres (5.9 ft) in length, usually forming an arch shape, but sometimes upright.

[9] The native range of Rubus occidentalis extends as far east as New Brunswick, as far west as Nebraska, as far north as Quebec, and as far south as Mississippi.

The plants are summer tipped by hand, mechanically pruned in winter and then machine harvested.

Wild purple raspberries have also been found in various places in northeastern North America where the two parental species co-occur and occasionally hybridize naturally.