192 



of which appear in the May number of the ' Annals of Natural His- 

 tory.' [See ante. p. 189.] 



" Desirous that the Botanical Society might possess early speci- 

 mens, the accompanying ones are sent. It is acknowledged that the 

 specimens are small, and some imperfect ; but I have preferred 

 sending immediately such as I can afford, to delaying till another 

 year's collection. That the specimens may not appear altogether 

 without remarks, I offer the following hasty ones : — 



" Ruhus tenuis is by no means an unfrequent bramble, having the 

 habit of Ruhus coisius, from which it is distinguished by its black 

 fruit, and the absence of hairs and glands in the surculi. The sepals 

 are broader, and the fruit, though pleasantly acid, has not that ex- 

 tremely fine flavour which belongs to R. ccesius, and which, once ob- 

 served, cannot be forgotten. In the plates of Rubus affinis, in the 

 work of Weihe and Nees, one variety (8) is figured with reflexed 

 calyx. As this is the principal artificial character which distinguishes 

 the present from the more slender forms of that species, no doubt 

 rests on my mind that that drawing must have been taken from a 

 plant of this species ; an opinion in which I am confirmed by having 

 noticed, in the Herbarium of Mr. Borrer, a specimen of Mr. 

 Leighton's, which Nees had labelled as a variety of his ajffinis. In 

 this country I believe it has commonly been included under Ruhus 

 ccesius, and probably sometimes under the convenient name of 

 Ruhus corylifolius. The variety labelled ^^ var.ferox^'' in the accom- 

 panying specimens, is distinguished from the other form by the 

 greater number and size of the prickles. 



" Ruhus Borreri, which I have so named in honour of my excellent 

 friend, Mr. Borrer, in acknowledgment of his successful labours in 

 this genus, belongs to the section of which Ruhus vilUcaulis (W. & 

 N.) may be considered the type ; but it is distinguished from all the 

 species allied to it by its corymbose panicle, and by its long sepals, 

 which, instead of being reflexed, loosely embrace the fruit. 



" The remaining specimen to be referred to, I have named Ruhus 

 Bahingtonii, after my friend the distinguished author of the ' Manual 

 of British Botany.' It is a remarkably large plant, combining the 

 hispid stem of rudis with the shaggy clothing in the panicle of 

 leucostachijs, from both of which it is abundantly distinguished by 

 its teraate leaves, and the breadth and crenate margins of its leaflets." 

 —G. E. D. 



