220 



HARD WICKE'S SCIENCE- GOSSIP. 



of the London Rubi. Probably other species and 

 varieties are known to observers ; we have several 

 doubtful specimens ourselves, which would, if really 

 out of the common, warrant the inference that much 

 may be done in this field of research. Altogether, 

 the subject is not a very satisfactory one ; but some 

 practical gain would result from a determination of 

 the extent to which certain deviations from the cha- 

 racteristics of a definite number of typical forms 

 occur under certain conditions of locality, and 

 whether they are constant in such conditions. The 



Fig. 171. Prickles, aciculae, 

 setae, and hairs of stem of 

 R. koehleri. 



Fig. 172. Setae and hairs 

 (magnified). 



the nitidi ; and that which is narrowly obovate to 

 the tomentosi ; but we could do so only in a general 

 sense, because the exception; in every case would be 

 too frequent. Specific nomenclature, therefore, de- 

 rived from the form of the leaflets, should be dis- 

 carded.""" The down and pubescence of the stems, 

 on the other hand, are often deciduous : true, these 

 characteristics are frequently apparently wanting, 

 but the lens applied to that portion of a stem which 

 has not been exposed too directly to the sun or vicis- 

 situdes of temperature will often reveal its presence 



Fig. 177. Adpressed stellate 

 down (mag.). 



Fig. 178. Spreading 

 fasciculed hairs. 



Fig. 173. 

 aciculae, and 

 R. nemorosus 



es, 

 of 



Fig. 174. Gland and 

 tomentum of sepal of 

 R. discolor (mag.). 



181. Glandular 

 sepals of R. glandu- 

 losus. 



Fig. 180. Flower-bud 

 of R . neiuorostis, 

 with few-grained 

 fruit, and sepals 

 ascending, often 

 reflexed. 



Fig. 182. Glandular 

 sepals of R. hystri.x. 



Fig. 179. 

 Hair (mag.). 



Fig. 175. Sepals of/?, cusius, 

 clasping the fruit. 



-3? 



Fig. 176. Flower-bud of 

 R./nsco-ater. 



Fig. 1 S3. Flower-bud 

 oiR. umbrosus. 



Fig. 184. Flower-bud 

 of R . discolor. 



characteristic distinctions of the sections above de- 

 tailed are deduced entirely from the stems ; no reli- 

 ance can be placed upon those derived entirely from 

 the leaves, still less from the form of the panicle. 

 This may be racemose, corymbose, pyramidal, or 

 what not ; and we may assign the corylose leaf to 

 one section, the oval or elliptical form to the glandu- 

 losi ; the rotund or broadly obovate shape to the 

 villicaules ;* the ovate or obovate acuminate one to 



* No definite idea seems to be attached nowadays to the 

 term " carpinifolius " ; formerly it was the general expression 

 for a villicaittis, or hairy-stemmed bramble. Specimens so 

 labelled in herbaria seen by us had no resemblance to the 

 typical form of the section whatever, nor to any of the others 

 composing it. 



in the form of withered shreds interspersed with small 

 black specks, the points of its former attachment. 



In September the blackberries are ripe, the right 

 time for gathering specimens as well as fruit ; the 

 panicle, the new leaves, and the young or barren 

 stems are then full grown and formed ; not that 

 flowering specimens should be dispensed with. The 

 localities from which the fruiting ones and cuttings of 

 the stems have been obtained should be carefully 



* The terminal leaflet is always more or less different to the 

 others. It may be cordate acuminate while the lateral ones_ 

 are ovate, and basal oval or elliptical. As for the situation of 

 the prickles, these are on the angles of the stems when these 

 are angled, and rarely elsewhere ; their bases are often glan- 

 dular or hairy as well as the stem itself. 



