1920] Fernald,—Blackberries of New England 189 
range of R. setosus, the other supposed parent of R. abbrevians, has 
been stated above. If, then, R. abbrevians and R. frondisentis, with 
nearly perfect pollen, with full and handsome berries, with seedlings 
true to type and with ranges coincident with those of the unques- 
tioned species, R. elegantulus and R. vermontanus, both of which have 
distressingly imperfect pollen,—if the constant R. abbrevians and R. 
frondisentis are modern hybrids of widely dispersed parents, why 
have they not been found somewhere else in the vast area where 
their parent species abound and where thousands of collections of 
Rubus have been made? 
The reviewer is not arguing that wild hybrids do not occur in 
Rubus, for he believes that they do. His own experience as well as 
some of the data given by Brainerd & Peitersen seem conclusive on 
that point. He is simply emphasizing that in such instances as those 
just discussed the paper fails to make a convincing case. In another 
paper which is announced perhaps the authors may do so. 
The reviewer is also puzzled, as others must be, to know why that 
most definite of coastal plain shrubs, R. cuneifolius, ranging all the 
way from Alabama and Florida to Connecticut and distinguished 
even by the novice on characters not found in any other northeastern 
species, is recognized only by its inclusion in a list of * Additional 
Forms of Doubtful Status" (p. 83). If, by chance, the authors 
have doubt as to the proper name for this shrub, there can be no 
question whatever about the shrub itself. Other points which may 
well puzzle or surprise those who have learned to expect care in Dr. 
Brainerd's work are the statement about the altitudinal range of 
blackberries, the item regarding the publication of R. sativus, and the 
omission from the citations of literature at the end of the paper of 
every one of Blanchard's 22 papers, including his highly important 
and authoritative epitome already referred to, one of the most signi- 
ficant if not, indeed, the most valuable series of critical notes we have 
upon our native blackberries, their ranges and constancy. 
Those who are familiar with our alpine districts would be amazed 
to see any of the blackberries far above timber-line, yet Brainerd 
& Peitersen tell us, that “The blackberries of New England are dis- 
tributed from the highest mountain peaks to the lowest valleys" 
(p. 14). Nevertheless, the reviewer, who with Professor Arthur 
Stanley Pease has taken pains to trace the altitudinal limits of black- 
berries on “the highest mountain peaks," is confident that few if 
any true blackberries are known in New England from far above 
3500 feet, the upper limit in the forests of Mt. Washington of our 
most northern species, R. canadensis. To be sure, R. Chamaemorus, 
the only member of a unique subgenus which is often considered a 
monotypic genus, occurs on the highest mountain peaks of New 
England, but it surely is not a blackberry, although this ancient, 
cireumpolar monotype has quite as poor pollen as do many other 
monotypes and most of the supposed hybrid blackberries. 
