198 



HENDERSON'S HANDBOOK OF PLANTS. 



RUB 



monly known as the Black Cap or Thimble- 

 berry is li occidental's, a species that is confined 

 wholly to America. It is most common trom 

 Virginia north and westward. This species and 

 its varieties bear a pleasant-tasted fruit in the 

 createst abundance with very little care. They 

 are the least troublesome of all Raspberries to 

 grow inasmuch as they increase themselves trom 

 the tips or ends of the shoots, and produce no 

 suckers. There are several varieties of the Black 

 Caps that bear reddish-crimson fruit. A num- 

 ber of hybrid Raspberries have been recently 

 introduced, partaking somewhat of the Black 

 Cap characteristics, particularly the peculiarity 

 of rooting from the tips of the green shoots; 

 and among these the most striking is the Caro- 

 line, which is propagated from suckers as well 

 as from the tips of the shoots, plainly showing 

 its hybrid character. It has been said by those 

 unacquainted with its origin that it is a hybrid 

 between Brinckle's Orange and the Catawissa; 

 but the originator disclaims any such origin, 

 and the plant itself and its fruit show that the 

 Catawissa was not one of its parents. It was 

 raised in 1877 by S. P. Carpenter, of New Ro- 

 chelle, Westchester Co., N. Y., and is a natural 

 cross between Brinckle's Orange (the seed par- 

 ent) and the Yellow Cap, a variety of li. occiden- 

 tals. The plant is thoroughly hardy, a strong 

 grower, and wonderfully productive. The fruit, 

 when ripe, is a fine salmon color, tender, and of 

 excellent quality, though not equal to the Brinck- 

 le. Another of S. P. Carpenter's seedlings is 

 the well-known New Rochelle, a seedling of the 

 Catawissa. It is hardy, very productive, and of 

 good quality, being slightly acid. Another 

 Westchester County seedling is the Cuthbert, 

 newly introduced, and which at this time prom- 

 ises to become a leading market variety, being 

 hardy, productive, and of fine quality, and the 

 fruit firm enough to bear long carriage. The 

 Gregg, another recent introduction, of the Black 

 Cap division, was raised in Ohio in 1876, is a 

 very fine large fruit, and has already taken its 

 place as the best of its class as a market berry. 

 The Pride of the Hudson is a fruit of high fla- 

 vor, of the Idmus family, but too tender to grow 

 anywhere except in a sheltered spot in the gar- 

 den. The Mammoth Cluster and many others 

 are more or less grown, but need, not be spe- 

 cially noted here. The Blackberry, of which 

 there are several native species, is now largely 

 grown for market, and is a profitable crop. 

 Until the appearance of the New Rochelle 

 Blackberry (sometimes called Lawton) our mar- 

 kets were supplied with Blackberries from the 

 woods. R. villosus, the High Blackberry, is the 

 common Blackberry of the country, being found 

 almost everywhere. It is given to variation, and 

 is the parent of nearly all the varieties now un- 

 der cultivation. The* first of these was the New 

 Rochelle, discovered by Mr. Secor growing in a 

 hedge at New Rochelle, Westchester County, 

 N. Y. It is an interesting fact, as showing the 

 estimation in which improved Blackberries were 

 held at that time, that Mr. Secor grew the plants 

 in his garden for about nine years without be- 

 ing able to prevail upon his neighbors to accept 

 a plant as a gift, when at last Mr. Lawton, a 

 shrewd lawyer, still living, took hold of it, ex- 

 hibited the fruit in New York, got up a sensa- 

 tion, and finally made a little fortune out of the 

 sale of the plants. Hundreds of acres of it were 

 planted. It is a large, handsome, and excellent 

 fruit, but the plants are at times injured in the 



RUD 



winter at the North. Some years later a clergy- 

 man of New Jersey discovered another variety 

 of R. villosus growing in the edge of the woods 

 on the Kittatinny Mountains, removed it to his 

 garden, and increased it largely. This was 

 placed in the hands of E. Williams, of Mont- 

 clair, N. J., who sent it out, and the public 

 were thus put in possession of the famous Kit- 

 tatinny, which still remains the best fruit of its 

 class. The Boston High Bush is a fruit of fine 

 flavor, but has never been popular as a market 

 berry. The Wilson is an earlier berry than 

 either of the preceding, but not equal to them 

 in quality. A very recent introduction from the 

 West is the Snyder. This is an early kind, im- 

 mensely productive, and perfectly hardy in all 

 parts of the country. The fruit is smaller than 

 the Kittatinny, but is very sweet, and ripe as 

 soon as colored, which is not true of those above 

 named. We have named the most of those that 

 are valuable for field culture, as far as they have 

 been tried; but there are others about being in- 

 troduced, of which we as yet know nothing. 

 Among these is the Crystal White, the fruit of 

 which is tender and sweet, but not high flavored. 

 R. Canadensis, the Running Blackberry, is pop- 

 ularly known as the Dewberry. The fruit is of 

 an excellent quality, and ripens about two 

 weeks earlier than most of the preceding species. 

 R. cuneifolius, or Sand Blackberry, is one of the 

 more common species, growing from two to 

 three feet high, and ripening an abundance of 

 well-flavored fruit in August. This species is 

 common in sandy woods in Southern New York 

 and southward. R. Chamtxmorus, Cloudberry, 

 is a species with large orange-red fruit, found 

 growing on the White Mountains and similar 

 elevations in the Northern and Eastern States. 

 This species, or something very near it, is also 

 abundant in Lapland, where the fruit is held 

 in high esteem. There are several other spe- 

 cies, without, however, any special distinctive 

 features. Propagated by root cuttings, tips of 

 the shoots, or suckers, according to the kind. 

 Rudbeckia. Cone Flower. Named in honor of 

 Professors Rudbeck, father and son, predecessors 

 of Linnaeus at Upsal. Linn. Syngenesia-Frus- 

 tranea. Nat. Ord. Asteracece. 



A genus of hardy herbaceous perennials, 

 growing from two to seven feet high, with nu- 

 merous showy flower-heads of bright yellow, 

 with a black disk in the center. They are na- 

 tives of the Western States, and becoming com- 

 mon in our meadows, having been introduced 

 by the seed being mixed with the various grass 

 seeds coming from the West, principally from 

 Kentucky. This genus acquired an enviable 

 reputation in Europe as an ornamental flower- 

 ing plant, and the seed was distributed by the 

 Department of Agriculture at Washington, 

 through the members of Congress, to several of 

 the States that had passed stringent laws against 

 the dissemination of "weeds." 

 Rudolphia. Named after W. Rudolph, a Prussian 

 botanist. Linn. Diaddph'.a-Decandria. Nat. Ord. 

 FabacefK. 



A small genus of very beautiful green-house 

 evergreen twiners, from Mexico and the West 

 Indies. The genus is allied to Erylhrina, and is 

 remarkable for its brilliant scarlet flowers, pro- 

 duced in axillary racemes. Propagated by cut- 

 tings or from seeds. 



Rudgea. Commemorative of M. F. Rudge. Linn. 

 Peniamlria-Monogynia. Nat. Ord. Cinchonacece. 

 A genus of green-house shrubs or low-growing 



