It is well known that some plants have thorns on them, which are meant as a defense mechanism against animals eating the plant. For a variety of reasons, many people do not wish to grow fruit and vegetable plants that have thorns on them, so knowing which plants do and which do not is important if you are a gardener.

So what about raspberries? Are raspberries thornless?

Well, it actually depends entirely on the variety of raspberry that you are growing!

Most raspberry plants do have thorns on them. These thorns will not necessarily be as hard and sharply pointed as those on a rosebush, but they can still be irritating to the skin if touched.

Certain varieties, however, such as as nova raspberries have been cultivated into being virtually thornless.