BLACKBERRIES AND RASPBERRIES. 397 



original or leading name, although the variety seems to be universally known, 

 in Michigan, as Mammoth Cluster. Mr. Downing says of it: "It has stronger 

 and more vigorous canes, having fewer spines and more productive, and is the 

 largest and best Black Cap we have yet seen. Fruit similar in form to Amer- 

 ican Black Cap, but of much larger size, of deeper color, more bloom, juice, 

 and sweetness."' It is also slightly later than other Black Caps, — a circum- 

 stance no doubt favorable to its popularity. 



This is still what may properly be called a new variety, and we know of no 

 new fruit, of any class, that has come to be so generally introduced, within sa 

 limited a period, and that, too, with such general satisfaction to planters. Still 

 this is a comparatively new and untried field ; and with the probable constant 

 accession of newer competitors for the popular favor, it is more than possible 

 that even this variety shall soon be thrust aside to make way for a newer and 

 more desirable, or at least more pretentious claimant. 



THE AXTWERP, OR RED RASPBERRY {RuillS IdCEUs), 



is reputed to be the parent of all our cultivated varieties of this class. This is 

 probably the fact, and indeed, may be assumed to be so beyond all question, so 

 far as the great mass of the older varieties is concerned ; but the disiinction 

 between this and our native red raspberry {Ruhus Strigosus) is so narrow and, 

 to our mind, based upon peculiarities so liable by variation to run into each 

 other, that we are hardly able to assure ourselves that at least some of the later 

 varieties of American origin may not have sprung from the latter. In order that 

 our difficulty, in this respect, may be the more readily and perfectly compre- 

 hended, we quote from Darlington's " American Weeds and Useful Plants :"' 



"Rubtis ld(.viis,'Linnsen9. — Stem suffruticose, erect, terete, not glaucous, bispid at base 

 and somewhat prickly- above ; leaves pinnatel}' 3-5-foliate ; leaflets rbomboid-ovate ; flow- 

 ers in paniculate corymbs ; petals entire ; carpels slightly rugose, finelj' pubescent, not 

 pitted in drying. 



'* Ida Rubus, Antwerp Raspberry, Garden Raspberry. — Root creeping ; stem 3-5 feet high, 

 ■branching, mostly hispid when young, especially towards the base, smoothish (or some- 

 times pubescent) and armed with slender recurved prickles above, the hispid bark, below, 

 exfoliating the second year. Lower leaves odd pinnate by fives, the upper ones by threes ; 

 common petioles 1-3 or 4 inches long ; leaflets 2-4 inches long, acuminate, unequally in- 

 cised-serrate, smoothish and green above, clothed with a dense white, cottony tomentum 

 beneath. Petals white. Carpels incurved at apex, clothed with a very fine, short, dense 

 pubescence, whiti.=h, amber-colored or purple, when mature. 



"Gardens : cultivated. Native of Europe. Fl. May ; fr. July. 



"Obs. — This species is much cultivated for its favorite fruit. The plant presents some 

 varieties — particularly in the size and complexion of the fruit ; and I am not sure that the 

 following nearly allied native species, which is found on our mountains, is not sometimes 

 seen and mistaken for it in the gardens. ********* 



"Rubus Strigosus, Michaux. — Stems slightly glaucous, but with stiff, straight bristles (some 

 of them becoming beak-hooked prickles); leaflets becoming oblong ovate; fruit light red. 



*' Strigose Rubus — Wild Red Raspberry. — Stem, 3-5 feet high, light brown. Lower leaves 

 odd-pinnate by fives, the upper ones ternate ; leaflets about three inches long, hoary be- 

 neath, the terminal one often cordate at base, Corymbs 4-6 flowered, axillary and termi- 

 nal, often aggregated and forming a leafy panicle at the top. 



" Hillsides, especially in cleared land. Fl. Jlay ; fr. July. 



" Obs. — This species is common northward, especially in mountainous regions. It often 

 appears in great profusion where timbered lands have been burned over. We have seen it 

 on the clearings in Maine, in the fruiting season, in such abundance as to give an uniform 

 red color to large tracts, and having a delicious flavor not equalled by the cultivated spe- 

 cies — if that be really distinct." 



Gray, in describing Rubus Strigosus, also says : " Fruit ripening from June 

 to August, finely flavored, but more tender and watery than the Garden or 

 European Raspberry {Ruins Idceus), which it too closely resembles." 



