The Rubi. 199 



concealed. Illustrations of the same general idea, that 

 of Community or Association, variously modified, are 

 supplied by the strawberry, the fig, and the mulberry. It 

 is further set forth, very elegantly, in maize or Indian 

 corn. Association of many little fruits must be care- 

 fully distinguished from the idea of the Compound fruit. 

 "Compound" fruits come of the lateral adhesion of a 

 small fixed number of carpels, as shown in the orange 

 and the apple. There is no common bond of botanical 

 affinity among the plants producing these various kinds 

 of aggregated fruits. The eatable ones are brought 

 together in the present chapter purely for the sake of 

 convenience in classification. 



THE RUBI. 



THE etaerio has for its most interesting examples the 

 fruits of the various species of Rubus, the genus of 

 Rosaceae which leads off in point of excellence with the 

 raspberry. The number of species is considerable. They 

 are diffused, more or less, over the whole world, North 

 America claiming twenty-seven; Central America and 

 the West Indian islands, twenty-one; South America, 

 twenty-three; Australia, New Zealand, and Polynesia, 

 nine others. Asia has its share, and so has Europe. 

 How many there are in Britain is undecided, or depends, 

 rather, upon the mental proclivities of the man who 



