XLII. 



743 



compound, spreading. Flowers large, of a full rose colour. Ca- 

 lyxes without prickles. Peduncles mostly so. Leaves whitely 

 tomentose beneath. A native of Dalmatia, in hedges, according 

 to Portenschlag. 



Jc R./. 9 concolor Wallr. Sched., p. 233. Leaves downy beneath, both 

 surfaces of one colour. A native of Germany. 



-* R. /. 10 glatulurustts Wallr. Sched., p. 233. Stems, petioles, and 

 peduncles glabrous. A native of Germany. 



The two following kinds of ligneous rubuses, found wild in Britain, Dr. Lindley supposes 

 (Synops. of Brit. Flora, cd. 2.) to be closely allied to R. fruticbsus /,., or, perhaps, varieties of it. 



-* R. (/. 11) rhamnif Mius \Veilie & Nees. R. cordifulius, in Limit. Synops. <;/ ' Hr. Fl., ed. 1. ; 

 and, it is most likely, li. cordifblius Weihe, H. B., No. 13527. The Buckthorn-lcaved 

 Bramble. 



.* R. (/. 12) leiicdstachys Schl. The white-spiked Bramble. 



Dr. Lindley has given distinctive characters to both of these kinds. 



The following : H. tomentbsus Weihe, and our Jiff. 461., 

 R. fasti^atus Weihe, R. tili&fdlius Weihe, R. Mtnkn 

 U'ci/ic, R. fichlechteiiddhln Weihe, R. Schletcheri Weihe, 

 R. Mrridus Weihe, R. nitidus Weihe, and R. rubricatilis 

 Weihe, are registered, and particulars given of them, in 

 H. B. ; and all of them, except the last, are described in 

 Dec. Prod., ii. ; but, as we suppose many of them to be 

 only modified forms of R. fruticbsus, we s'hall omit their 

 descriptions. Most of them are natives of Germany ; but 

 R. horridus, R. nftidus, and R. fastigiatus are also found 

 wild in Britain. 



Description, $c. The stems of this species, 

 according to Sir J. E. Smith, are truly shrubby, 

 of a dark red or purple, strongly angular, with 

 intermediate furrows, many feet in length, tough 

 and woody, biennial, if not perennial, flowering 

 the second year; branched and leafy. The bar- 

 ren stems are smooth, arched, and sometimes taking root at their extremities ; 

 the blossom-bearing stems are erect, and slightly downy at the upper part. The 

 leaves are firm and durable, and almost evergreen. The flowers are erect 

 and handsome, and the petals of a delicate pink ; rarely, if ever, white in 

 Britain, though the authors of the Rubi Germanici describe them as generally 

 white. The berry is nearly globular, and is composed of very numerous 

 purplish black, smooth, juicy grains, of a sweet but mawkish flavour, ripen- 

 ing late in autumn. The ordinary season of ripening is early in September ; 

 but Sir J. E. Smith has remarked that the season of 1799 was so unfavour- 

 able, that scarcely any bramble-berries, or blackberries, as they are commonly 

 called, were to be found ripe in October. This species is considered as being 

 more common than any of the other brambles, and also as attaining a greater 

 size. It is this sort which occurs most frequently in English hedges ; and it 

 has been justly remarked by H. C. Watson (Outlines, $c., p. 137.), that 

 brambles are more abundant, and much finer, in the hedges in England, than 

 they are in Scotland ; and that in the Highlands they form only a secondary 

 feature in the physiognomy of vegetation. The cause why the brambles are 

 so much finer in England than they are in Scotland is not altogether owing 

 to the superiority of the English climate, but partly to the hedges in Scot- 

 land being formed solely of the hawthorn, and kept within much less bounds 

 than they are in England. The bramble is never planted in Scotland, and is 

 only occasionally found in hedges, in consequence of having been sown there 

 by birds. It is always found to prosper best on a soil somewhat dry and 

 gravelly ; and, accordingly, Switzer, when speaking of choosing a soil and 

 situation for a vineyard, recommends looking out for one where the bramble 

 is abundant and vigorous. 



Properties and Uses. The fruits, in some parts of England, are called 

 bumblekites ; and in others scaldberries, from their supposed quality of giving 

 scald heads to children. They are considered astringent; but have been eaten 

 by children, in every country where they grow wild, since the time of Pliny. 

 They have also been used, both in France and England, to produce a sub- 

 acid drink; an inferior description of wine; and, by fermentation and distil- 

 lation, a strong spirit. In England, they are sometimes made into tarts ; but 



