354 THE EVOLUTION OF OUR NATIVE FRUITS 



though improperly, the plant is usually known. In 

 1833, Douglas described it as Rubus macropetalus . 

 Four named varieties of Rubus vitifolius are in cultiva- 

 tion, the Skagit Chief, Washington Climbing blackberry, 

 Belle of Washington, and Aughinbaugh. The first, as 

 I have grown it, is pistillate, and therefore incapable of 

 setting fruit; and it blooms too early to be pollinated 

 by our eastern dewberries, even if the species were to 

 admit of such cross -pollination. The Skagit Chief 

 (Fig. 78) and Belle of Washington are chance varieties 

 from the wild, and they were distributed sparingly to 

 experimenters late in 1891. The Washington Climbing 

 was introduced in 1892 by Samuel Wilson, Mechanics- 

 ville, Penna. 



The Aughinbaugh variety is described in "Garden 

 and Forest" for 1894, as follows, by Charles Howard 

 Shinn : 



"In blackberries, the Pacific coast has one very 

 variable but important species, Rubus ursinus [R. 

 vitifolius], bearing an oblong, sweet, highly flavored 

 fruit. This berry still grows in immense patches along 

 the river bottoms, fills the ravines, and even extends 

 far up among the oaks and manzanitas on dry hill- 

 sides. If it fruited abundantly it might long ago 

 have become the parent of many valuable varieties, 

 as has been the case with the blackberry. Occasion- 

 ally, in rich, sheltered places it bears so heavily that 

 people come for miles to camp in the berry-fields and 

 gather the delicious fruit. Variable in growth, in 

 leaves, and in many other particulars, it seems to vary 

 most in fruitage, and offers peculiar advantages to the 

 skilled hybridizer. As with other members of the 

 family, carefully selected plants from the woods and 



