Roses and Apples 49 
so long that its own weight bends it over and it 
forms an arc; the growing tip roots in the ground, 
and then sends up new stems. In this way it rapidly 
occupies much ground. The white or pink flowers 
are borne in clusters of varying length, and their 
large petals and numerous stamens render them 
conspicuous; they bear honey, and are much visited 
by bees and butterflies, as well as by flies and small 
pollen-stealing beetles. Hermann Miiller has enumer- 
ated close upon a hundred insects of various orders 
that visit the Bramble blossoms for honey or pollen. 
The stigmas and outer anthers mature together, but 
the anthers hold themselves as remotely from the 
stigmas as possible, so that the pollen becomes easily 
accessible, and there is every chance of a pollen-dusted 
bee from another bush settling on the central stigmas 
and fertilising them before any pollen from the same 
flower has had time to reach them. If cross-fertilisa- 
tion has not already taken place, self-fertilisation will 
be effected when the inner stamens mature and raise 
their anthers to a level with the stigmas. As every- 
body knows, the fruit of the Bramble when ripe is 
black or very dark purple. 
The Bramble cannot be said to have reached the 
limits of development, for it is one of the most 
variable plants we have. Even in our little British 
Islands there is so enormous a number of variations 
of the Bramble, that botanists almost despair of them. 
By some authorities they are reckoned as sub-species 
of Rubus fruticosus, each with a number of varieties, 
whilst others regard most or all as species distinct 
from R. fruticosus. I consider the connecting links 
are too close and too numerous to so regard them, 
