744 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART III. 



for this purpose they should be gathered before they are dead ripe ; because, 

 if left too long on the bush, they are apt to acquire a musty flavour. They 

 are also used for making a rob, or jam, which is considered good for sore 

 throats. In some parts of France, where they are called mures sauvages 

 (wild mulberries), they are used for colouring wine; and the red muscat of 

 Toulon is so coloured. The juice, mixed witli raisin wine before it has fer- 

 mented, will give it both the colour and flavour of claret. Many medical 

 properties were formerly attributed to this plant. In French Guiana, the 

 fruit is gathered and given to swine. The leaves are sometimes used for 

 feeding silkworms, as a substitute for those of the mulberry. They are 

 much more astringent than the fruit ; and a decoction of them, in the time 

 of Gerard, was in repute as a gargle. The green twigs have been used in 

 dyeing woollen, silk, and mohair, black. The common bramble has fre- 

 quently been used for raising live hedges in a poor sandy soil (see Martyn's 

 Miller, and Young's Annals, vol. ii. p. 342.) ; but it cannot be recommended 

 for this purpose, on account of the great space which it occupies. On drift 

 sands, the bramble may be sown or planted, with a view to fixing the soil, and 

 as a preparation for forest trees. The shoots of K. fruticosus, and of all 

 the strong-growing varieties of bramble, are used by thatchers for binding on 

 their thatch ; and the smaller shoots by the makers of straw beehives and 

 straw seed-baskets, for sowing the different layers of straw rope together. For 

 the latter purpose, the shoots are drawn through a cleft stick, as well to bruise 

 them, and thus render them less liable to break when bent, as to deprive 

 them of their prickles. Where R. cae^sius abounds, its shoots are preferred 

 by the makers of beehives, as being smaller and tougher; and those of R. cory- 

 lifblius by the thatchers, as having fewer prickles. In landscape-gardening, 

 where the object is to imitate wild nature, the common bramble forms an 

 admirable plant; and, soon after the publication of Price's Essays on the Pic- 

 turesque, it was used for this purpose at a few places, and, among others, at 

 St. Mary's Isle ; but there the contrast between wildness and high cultivation 

 was not sufficiently great to render the effect produced of lasting interest. 

 In consequence of feeling this, the brambles have, for a number of years 

 past, been gradually being removed. Thickets of brambles, in some of the 

 public squares in London, or in Hyde Park, or Kensington Gardens, would 

 have the full effect of strongly contrasted character ; but they could never be 

 considered as producing scenery entitled to the appellation of artistical. 

 -* 23. R. SA'NCTUS Schreb. The holy Bramble. 



Identification. Schreb. Dec., p. 15. t. 8. ; Desf. Cor., 80. t. 61. ; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 561. ; Don's Mill, 



2. p. 535. 



Synonyme. R. obtusifolius Wittd. Enum. Suppl., 38., according to Link. Enum., 2. p. 61. 

 Engravings. Schreb. Dec., t. 8. ; Desf. Cor., 80. t. 61. 

 Spec. Char.ySfc. Stem frutescent, indistinctly angled, downy, prickly with recurved prickles. Leaf 



usually of 3 leaflets, rarely undivided. Leaflets ovate, obtuse, serrated, tomentose beneath. 



Flowers mostly terminal, in a sort of panicle. Sepals ovate, tomentose, reflexed, short. (Dec. 



Prod., ii. p. 561.) A native of the East, but why called sanctus does not appear. It is a straggling 



prostrate plant, producing pink flowers in June and July, and said to have been in cultivation since 



1823 ; but we have not seen it 



3& 24. R. CANE'SCENS Dec. The grey Bramble. 



Identification. Dec. Cat. Hort. Monsp., p. 139. ; Fl. Fr., 5. p. 545. ; Prod., 2. p. 561. ; Don's Mill., 2. 

 p. 535. 



Spec. Char., &c. Stem shrubby, tall. Petioles and peduncles tomentose and prickly. Leaflets 5 or 3, 

 obovate- oblong, toothed with a few large teeth, whitish and velvety upon both surfaces. Flowers 

 in panicles. Calyx tomentose. (Dec. Prod., ii. p. 561.) A native of the Alps of Piedmont, near 

 Vinadio, with white flowers ; said to have been introduced in 1820; but we have not seen the plant. 



-* 25. R. SKTO N SUS Big. The bns\\y -stemmed Bramble. 

 Identification. Bigelow in Litt. ; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 563. j Don's Mill., 2. p. 536. 

 Spec. Char., Sfc. Stem very hispid. Branches bristly at the tip. Leaves composed of a long petiole 



and 3 leaflets, that are obovate-wedge-shaped, serrated, and glabrous. Stipules spathulate-linear. 

 , Flowers upon filiform peduncles, and in racemes. Sepals lanceolate, tomentose, bristly. Petals 



obovate-wedge-shaped, longer than the sepals. (Dec. Prod., ii. p. 563.) A native of North America, 



near Montreal, which we have not seen. 



-* 26. R. ARGU V TUS Lk. The sharp-toothed-leafleted Bramble. 

 Identification. Lk. Enum., 2. p. 60. ; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 563. ; Don's Mill., 2. p. 537. 

 Spec. Char., S(C. Stem frutescent, prickly and hairy. Prickles straightish, small Leaflets 3 5, 

 oblong, acuminate, rather tapered at the base, doubly and sharply serrate, downy beneath. Flowers 



