RAND'S BLACKBERRY 



more or less of a problem to the classifying botanist. 

 The fact that so many varieties have come into culti- 

 vation that their seeds are scattered by the birds in 

 out-of-the-way places ; that the seedlings so produced 

 will vary, returning to their type with modifications 

 obviously, will continue to confuse the situation. 



In the meantime, the great types stand out clear 

 enough for the amateur to enjoy ; and if the variabil- 

 ity of the family tends to drive the botanist to distrac- 

 tion, it also makes possible the production of a fruit 

 unique in character and most delicious in flavor. 



As a cultivated plant the blackberry is a purely 

 American fruit ; all the varieties have been developed 

 from native wild plants; and we alone of all peoples 

 prize " The blackberry that was the bramble born." 



RAND'S BLACKBERRY 



ftitbits rdndii, 



This is a native of northern woods, ranging from 

 New Brunswick to Maine and west to northern Michi- 

 gan. Low and diffuse in habit ; stems nearly glabrous 

 and so soft and slender as to appear almost herba- 

 ceous; prickles few and weak, often wanting. Leaves 

 are very thin, three or five-foliate. The flower cluster 

 is long, many-flowered ; the flowers about half the size 

 of those of Rnbus nigrobaccus ; the fruit small, dry and 

 seedy. 



153 



