160 FLOWERS OF THE ROADSIDES AND HEDGES 



and sloes are recommended for fences. Blackthorn distinguishes it 

 from Whitethorn or May. 



Blackthorn Chats are the young shoots when they have been cut 

 down. 



The " Lay of Runzifal " makes a Blackthorn shoot out of the bodies 

 of slain heathens, a white flower by the heads of fallen Christians. It 

 was held antagonistic to witchcraft. In Surrey it is always cold when 

 the Blackthorn comes in flower. 



" When the Sloe tree is as white as a sheet, 

 Grow your barley whether it be dry or not." 



It is the origin of the Bullace and the Plum. In a wild state it has 

 spines. The fruit is very astringent. A conserve is made from it, and 

 port wine has been made from it as well as sloe gin. It has been used 

 for marking ink. Lye or tea used to be made from the leaves. It has 

 been substituted for cinchona bark for ague and fever. As a wood it 

 is used for the teeth of rakes. 



ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 



91. Prunus spinosa, L. Shrubby, stems woody, branched, twigs 

 zigzag, spinose, black, leaves elliptical, narrow, downy below, after the 

 flowers; flowers white, 1-2, peduncle glabrous, fruit globose. 



Bramble (Rubus fruticosus (= rusticanus, Merc.)) 



This plant is known in Preglacial, Interglacial, Neolithic, and 

 Roman beds (at Silchester, for instance). It is a member of the 

 North Temperate Zone, found in Central and South Europe. Out of 

 112 vice-counties it is found in 74 in Great Britain, but it is not so 

 common in Scotland. 



The Common Bramble is not only a prevalent hedgerow plant, but 

 it is often one of the chief mainstays of common undergrowth, and 

 forms wide patches on heaths and moors, being indiscriminately 

 common to both highland and lowland districts. It forms some part 

 also of the undergrowth in woods and plantations, but is not a shade- 

 lover like certain other brambles, of which altogether some hundred 

 species are now known, ranking as sub-species. 



Brambles are plants which have a peculiar habit like Roses in 

 general, unlike any other plants in this respect. The stems are 

 numerous, ascending at first, or erect, growing out from a single root, 

 and rooting again when they have arched over and commenced to 

 descend afresh. They thus present a regular entanglement, which it is 



