164 



BISMARCKIA 



BLACKBERRY 



BISMARCKIA (in honor of Prince Bismarck). Pal- 

 infrcece, tribe Bordssece. A genus nearly related to La- 

 tania and Borassus, distinguished by fruit characters. 

 Forms a tree 200 ft. high, with a gigantic crown of pal- 

 mate Ivs. with white streaked petioles and blades 10 

 ft. in diam. : fr. borne in large, drooping clusters, dark 

 brown, plum-like, l%in. in diam., with a thin outer 

 shell and a fibrous inner one enclosing a rounded, 

 wrinkled seed 1 in. in diam., reticulated like a walnut 

 and ruminated, as in the nutmeg. Cult, as for Latania. 



nobilis, Hildeb. & Wendl. Young plants : petiole con- 

 vex on the back, channelled above, finely serrate on the 

 ridges above, thinly clothed with tufts of fibrous scales, 

 half as long as the blade ; blade blue-green, rigid, 3 ft. 

 in diam. ; segments 20, 2 in. wide, 1 ft. long, apex blunt, 

 obtuse, with a long curved filament from the base of 

 each sinus. Madagascar. G.F. 6:246. F.R. 2:257. 

 Gt - 1221 - JARED G. SMITH. 



BITTEE- SWEET. See Celastrus and Solanum. 



BlXA (South American name). Bixdcece. A genus 

 of two species of tropical trees with large, entire Ivs. 

 and showy fls. in terminal panicles. B. Orellana is cult, 

 in the E. and W. Indies for the Annatto dye which is 

 prepared from the orange-red pulp that covers the seeds. 

 It is the coloring matter chiefly used in butter and 

 cheese. It is also used in dyeing silks, and preparing 

 chocolate. 



Orellana, Linn. Height 30 ft. : Ivs. cordate : fls. pink- 

 ish. B.M. 1456. It is rarely grown in northern green- 

 houses as an ornamental. Cuttings taken from a flower- 

 ing plant will produce flowering plants of a convenient 

 size. Plants from seed usually flower less freely, and 

 must attain a greater size before flowering. 



BLACKBERRY. A name applied to various species 

 of Rubus, of which the receptacle remains with the 

 drupelets when fruit is picked. As a commercial fruit, 

 it is known only in America. Although a well-known 



237. Agawam Blackberry. 



wild fruit from the earliest times, the Blackberry has 

 only recently made its appearance among the more 

 orderly and promising garden fruits. The type species 

 is Rubus nigrobaccus, although it has long been known 

 under the name Rubus villosus (see Rubus). It is a 

 most variable species, and the number of forms which 

 may be recognized depends only upon the judgment of 

 the botanist who is reviewing them. There are several 

 distinct types or groups in cultivation. (1) The Long- 

 Cluster Blackberries, Rubus nigrobaccus. The plants 

 grow tall and upright, the leaflets are long-stalked, rather 

 finely serrate and taper pointed. The flower cluster is 

 long, leafless and open, with the individual flowers stand- 

 ing almost at right angles to the central stem. The fruit 

 is normally oblong or thimble-shaped, sweet, rather dull 

 in color, with drupelets small and closely packed. The 

 Taylor is one of the best representatives of this class. 

 (2) The White Blackberry, R. nigrobaccus, var. albinus. 

 Similar to the above, but with nearly round, yellowish 

 green canes and pinkish cream- or amber-colored fruit. 

 Many varieties of this type have been introduced, but 

 none have attained prominence. (3) The Short-Cluster 

 Blackberries, R. nigrobaccus, var. sativus. This is the 

 commonest form of cultivated Blackberry, and includes 

 such varieties as the Snyder, Lawton arid Agawam ( Fig. 

 237). In this type the clusters are shorter, but leafless, 

 the pedicels more oblique, the fruits shorter and rounder, 

 glossy black, the drupelets large and irregularly set. 

 The leaflets are broader, coarsely and unevenly serrate, 

 or jagged and less tapering at the point. (4) The Leafy- 

 Cluster Blackberries, R. argutus. This is a lower and 

 more bushy form, with narrow, coarsely toothed, light - 

 colored leaflets and short cluster, having simple leaves 

 intermingled with the flowers. Its best common repre- 

 sentative is the Early Harvest. (5) The Loose-Cluster 

 Blackberries, R. nigrobacciisx.villosus. This is a group 

 of hybrid origin, being intermediate between the Black- 

 berry and dewberry (see Dewberry). The plants have 

 a low, spreading habit of growth, broad jagged and 

 notched leaves, short dewberry-like clusters, with large, 

 roundish fruits, made up of very large, loosely set drupe- 

 lets. The Early Wilson and Wilson Junior are its best 

 known representatives (Fig. 238). (6) The Sand Black- 

 berry, R. cuneifoUus (Fig. 239). A sturdy little shrub, 

 armed with vicious recurved thorns, with thickish, 

 wedge-shaped leaflets, whitened woolly beneath. The 

 clusters are few-flowered, opening from the center out- 

 ward, the fruit roundish, loose-grained, very black and 

 good. Known in cultivation only as the Topsy, or Tree 

 Blackberry. (7) There is still another type of Black- 

 berry, known as the Thornless or Mountain Blackberry 

 (R. Canadensis), but it is not in cultivation. This is 

 characterized by smooth, unarmed canes, narrow, sharp- 

 pointed leaflets, the upper ones borne on long, slender 

 leaf -stalks, an open flower-cluster, a short, roundish, 

 glossy black fruit, with large drupelets. It ripens later 

 than the common Blackberry, and is not so good in 

 quality. For further account of the Blackberry tribes, 

 see Bailey, Evolution of Our Native Fruits. 



The first Blackberry introduced into cultivation was 

 the Dorchester, which was exhibited before the Massa- 

 chusetts Horticultural Society in 1841. This was fol- 

 lowed by the Lawton a few years later, which became 

 much more prominent. The Kittatinny soon divided hon - 

 ors with this, and both now largely have given place to 

 the Snyder, which is undoubtedly the most widely 

 grown variety of the present day. This, like many com- 

 mercial fruits, is a variety of poor quality, but extremely 

 hardy and productive. The rapid strides made by the 

 Blackberry in cultivation prove that a place was ready 

 and waiting for it in the pomological world, a place which 

 it has proved itself eminently fitted to fill, owing both to 

 its desirable qualities in general and to its ability to 

 rapidly vary and develop new types. At the present 

 time it is one of the most important, most generally liked 

 and most profitable bush -fruits grown. 



The Blackberry thrives on almost all soils, but to reach 

 perfection demands a strong loam, retentive of moisture 

 and tending toward clay rather than sand. Soil must 

 be well drained at all times. If too rich in humus and 

 nitrogen, a tendency toward a rank growth of plant, 

 with diminished fruitfulness, appears, while a light, 

 sandy soil will fail to carry the fruit through periods of 



