Rbodora 
JOURNAL OF 
THE NEW ENGLAND BOTANICAL CLUB 
Vol. 10. July, 1908. No. 115. 
. 
ON THE IDENTITY OF RUBUS CANADENSIS. 
W. Н. BLANCHARD. 
In 1753 Linneus in his Species Plantarum, page 494, described 
as follows a Rubus to which he gave the specific name Canadensis. 
6. Rubus foliis digitatis denis quinis ternatisque, caule inermi. 
Habitat in Canada. Kalm. 
Caulis subpurpureus. Foliola lanceolata, utrinque nuda, tenuis- 
sima, argute serrata. Bracte lanceolate.  Stipulæ lineares, acute. 
6. Rubus with digitate leaves, in tens, fives, and threes, stem un- 
armed. 
Habitat in Canada. Kalm. 
Stem somewhat purple. Leaflets lanceolate, naked on either side, 
very thin, acutely serrate. Bracts lanceolate. Stipules linear, acute. 
For a time authors of American floras included this name evidently 
not because they knew plants that they referred to such a species, but 
simply because Linnæus had described it. At length, however, it 
was used for the common northern edible dewberry. This usage 
continued till 1898 when Prof. L. H. Bailey, in his Evolution of Our 
Native Fruits, showed that the R. Canadensis of Linnæus was an erect, 
unarmed, glabrous plant. This he learned by examining the original 
specimens of Linnæus preserved in London. 
There he found two sheets. Опе of these he has figured on page 383. 
It has on the new cane five long narrow obovate leaflets, long-pointed 
at each end and very much like those of R. setosus Bigelow. The 
other specimen, unfortunately, he did not figure, but he obtained a 
good photograph of it, which е has kindly sent to me. This appears 
to be identical with a plant common in all the elevated parts of Vermont 
and New Hampshire and not rare generally in the lower sections. 
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