IXTRODUCTION. 19 



The colour of the filaments aud anthers and styles de- 

 serves much more notice than we have given to it. It is 

 apparently constant in tint, although very variable in in- 

 tensity. 



The fruits are formed of many small drupes placed close 

 together and usually cohering. They are seated uj)on a re- 

 ceptacle, which is conical in all except the herbaceous spe- 

 cies, and either falls with the fruit, or remains attached to 

 the stalk after the fruit has separated from it, but amongst 

 our species this latter condition exists in the Idcei alone. I 

 have not found that the seeds aflford any characters of im- 

 portance. As Arrhenius places confidence in their form, it 

 is desirable that attention should be paid to them'. 



If a bramble is found to retain the same appearance 

 under diflferent circumstances of soil and exposure, although 

 many of its characters vary considerably, we may conclude 

 that it is a true species, and form some idea of its range of 

 variation : but when a plant, although furnished with rather 

 marked charactei-s is confined to a single spot, we jDroperly 

 doubt its specific claims, although necessity may oblige us to 

 allow it to stand alone, from not knowing with what other 

 plants it should be combined. No study in herbaria can 

 supply the knowledge requisite for a determination of the 



^ The following very curious description of the fruit of Eubus is to 

 be found in Liniuei Amoenitatcs Acadcmicce (viii. 170) : "■ Ruhus, fructu 

 8uo singularis admodum est: Receptaculum enim seniinum quasi dupHci 

 epidermide obducitur, intra quam succus et semina latent, adeoque 

 decidit haec bacca concava instar pilei." It is probably the description 

 of the student (Sveno Anders Hedin, who defended it under the presi- 

 dency of Linnaeus on May 26, 1772, at Upsala), uot of the Professor. 

 Linnaeus adopted the genus from Touruefort, who described the fruit 

 correctly in his Institutiones lici IIcriaricB (ed. 3. 614. t. 385). 



