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A Descriptive List of the British Rubi. 

 By Edwin Lees, Esq., F.L.S * 



RuBUS. Raspberry and Bramble. This intricate tribe has of 

 late years received much attention from Mr. Borrer and Dr. Lindley ; 

 and more recently still Mr. Leighton, Dr. Bell Salter, the Rev. An- 

 drew Bloxam, and Mr. Babington, have closely investigated the sub- 

 ject, and all published their ideas in monographs or fasciculi of spe- 

 cimens, so that the British Rubi are now much better looked after 

 than formerly, and may be examined with some hope of being under- 

 stood. As I have myself, to use a simile of Dr. Lindley's, I hope as 

 " a fair sportsman," struck down some game in the same field, I must 

 use my right to dress up the spoils after my own fashion : but whe- 

 ther the varied forms of Rubi are studied or not, the experience of all 

 will probably show Dr. Walcott to be correct when he says — 



" In our journey through life, my dear Joan, I suppose, 

 We shall oft meet a Bramble, and sometimes a Rose." 



A. Fruticose brambles, arched and rooting at the extremity. 



Subperennial. 



i. Rubi C^esii. Barren stem pruinose, with unequal prickles, ge- 

 nerally with few setae, prostrate unless supported. 



R. C(Bsius, Linn. Stem glaucous, round, prickles slender, leaves 

 mostly ternate, flexible and naked, panicle simple glandular, fruit 

 glaucous, with the sepals inflexed. In low shady places. 



Numerous varieties occur, more or less stout, according to ex- 

 posure; one of the most remarkable is my nudatus (Steele's ' Hand- 

 book'), in which the glands are obliterated. Another, the var, 

 Pseudo- IdcBus of Rub. Germ., has its foliage pinnate like the rasp- 

 berry, with a stout erect stem. This grows at Rushwick near Wor- 

 cester. 



R. dumeforwn, W. and N. Stem angular, setose, prickles nume- 

 rpus, unequal : leaves quinate, coriaceous, downy beneath ; panicle 

 branched, setose ; calyx involute on the fruit. In hedges. 



Many varieties occur, difficult to discriminate, the only unvarying 

 characteristic form being the " ferox " of Rub. Germ., which is very 

 stout, large, and prickly. 



* From 'The Botany and Geology of Malvern, by Edwin Lees, F.L.S.' 

 VOL. IV. 5 M 



