324 THE EVOLUTION OF OUR NATIVE FRUITS 



fectly thornless, it is important that horticulturists 

 should turn their attention to the species if it gives 

 any promise of good fruit. The so-called thornless 

 blackberries of gardens are only comparatively unarmed 

 forms of the common blackberry. The person who 

 sent me the thornless canes from northern Michigan 

 said that the fruit is good. Mr. Kofoid, who collected 

 the specimens in North Carolina, sends me the following 

 note: 'It seems to be very abundant where it occurs, 

 forming dense thickets of upright stems five to eight 

 feet in height. As late as the 29th of August we found 

 the fruit just turning a faint reddish tinge, and quite 

 palatable and sweet to a hur.gry man. Natives say 

 that the fruit becomes ripe and black in September. 

 The berries are large, long and slender and very 

 sweet, lacking the sharply acid or bitterish quality 

 of the berries of the lower mountains. There are 

 no thorns or prickles. One can go through the 

 patches unscathed. You may, however', find a few 

 minute prickles on the mid -vein, generally of the 

 terminal leaflet.' This is certainly a promising 

 account. 



"There are several botanical characters which dis- 

 tinguish this species from the common blackberry, aside 

 from the absence of thorns. It lacks almost entirely, 

 except on some of the young shoots, the conspicuously 

 pubescent character of the common species. The leaves 

 are thin and the leaflets are sharply toothed and promi- 

 nently long -pointed. One of the most prominent 

 characters lies in the leaflet -stalks. Upon vigorous 

 shoots the leaflets are five, and the three upper ones 

 have stalks from one to two inches long." 



It is now known that this interesting species is 



