24 The Scottish Naturalist. 



brook, while under its slender branches the wild hyacinth and 

 pale primrose grow side by side. 



The Cloud -berry, or Averon {Rubus chamcemorus L.) 

 High up on the mountain side, where the bog-mosses grow in 

 cushions of green, red, and yellow, flourishes the little mountain 

 bramble. The flowers are large and white, and are followed in 

 about six weeks by the large berries, at first red and opaque, 

 then yellow and semi-transparent. The taste of the fruit is very 

 peculiar, and (to my idea, at least) not very pleasant when un- 

 cooked; but when preserved, either as jam or jelly, it is very 

 agreeable and much sought after. Should a frost come at the 

 time of flowering — end of May and June — (not unfrequent 

 at the high altitudes which this plant affects), the blossoms are 

 unproductive : this is doubtless the reason why one often sees 

 acres of the plant without a single berry. In the north of 

 Europe also, the fruit is much used, and so is the Arctic 

 Bramble (Rubus arcticus), which is, however, more nearly re- 

 lated to the following species. The Arctic Bramble, which has 

 pink blossoms, has been reported as growing on Ben-y-Ghloe, 

 but has not been recently, if ever, found there. 



The Stone Bramble (R. saxatilis), or Roebuck Berry. This 

 is another plant of the same genus, descending, however, to a 

 lower elevation, and preferring the banks of subalpine streams 

 and subalpine woods. The barren branches are long and trailing, 

 but the fertile ones are shorter, and bear a few whitish blossoms, 

 followed in due time by the berries, consisting of two or three 

 scarlet drupes. In no place does the Stone Bramble show to 

 greater advantage than when growing among the rounded 

 pebbles on the banks of a Highland stream, the leafy shoots 

 trailing among the stones, and the bright scarlet clusters of 

 berries shining forth against the green and grey background. 

 The fruit is of a peculiar acid flavour, and has been made into 

 a by no means despicable jam — so my friend, Mr. J. M'Farlane, 

 reports from experience. In Russia it is fermented with honey. 



The Raspberry (R. Idceus), another plant of the same 

 family, needs no description, and appears to be truly wild in 

 many woods and on some mountain sides. 



The Bramble (R. fruticosus) is equally well known, but its 

 fruit is not nearly so appreciated. It is a much more handsome 

 plant than the last-mentioned, and when trailing over some rock 

 or rugged bank, its tinted leaves and snowy blossoms — some- 

 times rose-tinted — and green, red, and purple-black berries, 



