WHITE AND GREENISH WILD FLOWERS 



three to ten feet in length, and armed with stout, 

 slightly recurving thorns. The stiff, prickly pur- 

 plish or brown stalks of the past year are easily dis- 

 tinguished from the new, green shoots. From three 

 to five pointed, oblong leaflets compose the compound 

 leaf. They are unequally toothed, strongly ribbed 

 and their surface is hairy. The five light green sepals 

 alternate between the large, narrow, white petals and 

 the numerous, slender, brown-tipped stamens are 

 prettily clustered around the little group of green pis- 

 tils in the centre. The flowers are borne in loose, 

 terminal clusters. The juicy, thimble-shaped fruit 

 ripens in hanging groups during July and August. 

 This is the original of the ordinary form of the culti- 

 vated or garden variety of blackberry, now exten- 

 sively raised for marketing. For over a hundred years 

 it was erroneously known as Rubus canadensis. It 

 prefers dry soil in open, sunny places, in low altitudes, 

 from Nova Scotia to Ontario and North Carolina. 

 A white-fruited variety occurs in Michigan. 



RUNNING BLACKBERRY 



Rubus kispidus. Rose Family. 



This slender-stemmed and weak-bristled, branch- 

 ing Blackberry creeps gracefully along its way from 

 four to ten feet. The few prickers are scantily scat- 

 tered. The compound leaves are three-parted, and 

 the thick-textured, wedge-shaped, dark green leaflets 

 are rounding at the apex and sharply toothed above 

 the middle. Throughout the winter the dull, purp- 



262 



