45 
VIIL—GARDEN NOTES ON NEW TREES AND SHRUBS, 
W. J. Brean. 
II. Chinese Rubi. 
One of the most noteworthy Peruenlate about the new plants 
now being introduced from Central and Western China is the 
number and distinctness of the new fhories of Rubus amongst them. 
Mr. Wilson has introduced about 40 new species, and of these a 
large proportion represent the genus in aspects never before shown 
in gardens. Mr. enry writing of his travels in Western China 
(Garden, Jan. 4, 1902, p- 3), observes that “each new valley and 
range yields some new species. When on the march I always 
reckoned on meeting a different species of Rubus Siok 10 miles of 
travel, and was never disappointed.” 
It would, of course, be premature to adjudge the value of many 
of these new brambles and raspberries in our gardens, As 
cultivators well know, the appearance and behaviour of plants in a 
wild state afford very unreliable evidence of their value under 
cultivation. In one respect--that of “Sara rma ere 
comparison with such species as A. deliciosus, R. odoratus or 
R. nutkanus. But as regards beauty of foliage and stem, they 
certainly add new and distinct types to our gardens. Mr. Henr 
observes that many of these brambles in a wild state have 
exquisitely flavoured fruits, and whilst it is improbable that 
any of them will give fruit equal to our cultivated forms of 
raspberry and blackberry, it is not unlikely that they would, by 
hybridising, introduce new shapes and flavours. 
To accommodate these new Chinese species at Kew a border 
has been made in the collection of Rosaceae, near the Pagoda, and 
the following species, as well as about 20 others, were planted there 
last autumn and will be available for inspection during the coming 
summer. 
I have to thank Mr. Wilson for supplying information with 
regard to the habitats, the colours of the flowers, and the fruits of 
the following species, much of which has not been published before. 
Rubus chrodsepalus, Mocke ; Hooker’s Icones earn t. 1952. 
This are which was first discovered by A. Henry in 
above, the lower surface white with a very close tomentum ; 
petioles glabrous, 1 to 24 inches long, ebually furnished with one 
or two decurved prickles. The flowers are borne in a terminal 
panicle, 6 to 9 inches long, each flower 4 inch across, without petals. 
Mr. Wilson informs us that the fruits are black, small, ripe in 
September, but of poor flavour. He collected seed, for Harvard 
University, near Ichang, where this species grows up to 4000 feet. 
Some of the seed was given to Kew in January, 1908, and the 
young plants so obtained proved quite hardy last winter. 
