163 



nearly or quite glabrous, very glaucous, dark purple and 

 green ; prickles uniform, numerous, chiefly but not entirely 

 on the angles, strong though slender in appearance, nearly 

 or quite horizontal or at right angles to the stem, arising 

 from a dilated base, shorter than their length, with minute 

 stellate tufts of hairs, dark purple ; leaves digitate, 5-nate, on 

 rather shortish petioles pubescent with short close-pressed 

 scattered hoary hairs, armed with stout, declinate, moderately 

 decurved prickles ; leaflets rather thin, slightly coriaceous, 

 plane, terminal one on a moderately long stalk, intermediate 

 on very short ones, lowermost quite sessile and overlapping 

 the intermediate pair, dark dull green, nearly glabrous above, 

 underside clothed with very short close-pressed whitish shin- 

 ing hairs and dense whitish tomentum, soft but scarcely vel- 

 vety, veins prominent hairy, midrib with few very weakly 

 prickles ; terminal leaflet rotundato-ovate, acuminate, sharply 

 and irregularly crenato-cuspidato-serrated, intermediate and 

 lowermost oval though differing in size, dilated at the lower 

 side ; stipules hoary and hairy especially on the margins ; 

 flowering stem angular, growing in a zigzag way, with hoary 

 pubescence increasing upwards into dense hoary tomentum ; 

 leaves 3-nate below, simple above, not continued to the ex- 

 tremity ; panicle similar in general character to that of var. 

 ft. densely hoary, almost of a dusty appearance, with a few 

 glands ; prickles rather more numerous, very long and slen- 

 der though strong, straight, declinate, those on the rachis 

 chiefly but not exclusively located about the upper portion 

 of the internodes and joints, scattered more over the whole 

 internodes rather increasing in length upwards as far as the 

 naked extremity of the panicle ; the secondary branches and 

 pedicels with slender long scattered declinate prickles ; se- 

 pals clothed on both sides with dense white hoary tomentum, 

 broadly ovate, cuspidate, strongly reflexed in fruit. A few 

 glands may be detected on the outside and a weak prickle 

 or two at the base ; petals white and pink ; fruit black. 

 Hab. — Hedges near Shrewsbury. 



This variety is founded on a portion of the plants included under 

 the second form of R. rhamnifolius of Fl. Shropsh. 228. The speci- 

 mens of R. corylifolius given in the ' Fasciculus of Shopshire Rubi," 

 belong to this variety. 



I venture to hazard the conjecture that this variety is the plant 



