450 ROSMARINUS RUBUS 



Honey taken by bees from the flowers is considered to be of especial 

 excellence. There is a common belief in some of the western counties 

 that rosemary grows best where the "mistress is master," and sensitive 

 husbands have been known to curb a too abounding vigour in their 

 plants. 



Var. FOLIIS AUREIS. Leaves marked with yellow, but of little value. 



Var. PROSTRATA. A low-growing plant introduced from the Isle of 

 Capri a few years ago, but it is much more tender than the type, and 

 will survive only the mildest winters at Kew. 



RUBUS. RASPBERRIES AND BRAMBLES. ROSACES. 



It is difficult to estimate the number of species of which this genus 

 of herbs and shrubs is composed. Specific nam,es have been given to 

 scores of European brambles which have no claim to rank as species, 

 some of them scarcely as varieties. It is probable that there are at least 

 three hundred genuine species, which are spread more or less over all the 

 temperate and tropical parts of the globe. Of those that can be grown 

 in the open air in the British Isles, the majority come from N.E. 

 Asia, the rest from N. America, Europe, and (one species) from New 

 Zealand. 



The most distinctive character of the genus is the fruit, which is 

 typically represented in the bramble and the raspberry. In both the 

 seeds are embedded singly in juicy drupes, which are united so as to form 

 a rounded or hemispherical cap fitted on a cone-shaped receptacle. In 

 the raspberries the fruit can be easily pulled off the receptacle, but in the 

 brambles the two adhere. 



In the garden of ornamental shrubs the Rubi do not occupy any- 

 thing like so important a place as their number would seem to justify. 

 Comparatively few of them are worth growing for beauty of flower, but 

 a considerable number are elegant in habit or striking in foliage. Many 

 species have their stems more or less covered with blue-white or purple 

 bloom, and a few of the most striking are cultivated on that account. 

 Others are grown for the beauty or edible value of their fruits. 



Besides the form of the fruit, which has already been adverted to, 

 the leading characteristics of the genus are its usually spiny stems ; its 

 alternate leaves, either pinnate, deeply lobed, or simple; and the five- 

 lobed persistent calyx. 



The cultivation of the hardy Rubi presents no problems. They all 

 like a loamy soil of good quality, and those of semi-scandent habit need 

 some sort of support. This may be a stout post, up which the main 

 shoots may be loosely tied, leaving the lateral branches free; it may be 

 three or more rough oak branches set up to form a sort of pyramid ; or 

 the longer-stemmed ones may be used for covering pergolas or other 

 structures of a similar nature. 



In the case of the biennial-stemmed species, it is necessary to cut 

 away the two-year-old stems which flower, bear fruit, and then die. With 

 those whose stems are of longer duration, it is also advisable to cut away 



