168 Mr. C. C. Babington on the British Rubi. 
in brambles, most of my specimens have been collected during 
botanical tours, when it was scarcely possible to find space for 
the preservation of more than a very few specimens from each 
locality. 
It is unnecessary to prolong these prelimimary observations 
with remarks upon the value of characters, as the following de- 
scriptions will show upon what points it has appeared most de- 
sirable to place confidence ; but it may be as well to state, that the 
form and armature of the matured barren shoot, the form of its 
leaves, the general form and structure of the panicle and its ar- 
mature, and in some cases its foliage, and the direction of the 
calyx of the fruit, seem most deserving of attention. The shape 
of the petals, the colour of the styles, the form of the torus and 
of the primordial fruit, are pomts which will probably well repay 
a careful study ; unfortunately my attention was not drawn to 
them until the opportunities for their examination had passed 
away. They are strongly recommended to the notice of bota- 
nists. 
As it has been thought better not to encumber this paper with 
synonyms, only those references are given which appeared requi- 
site for the more certain determination of the plants. 
In conclusion, I must crave the indulgence of those who may 
honour this synopsis with their attention, and assure them that 
whatever errors they may find in it are not the result of careless- 
ness, but caused by the paucity of our knowledge of plants which 
have been too generally neglected. It is hoped that by publish- 
ing the knowledge that they may obtain, all botanists will assist 
in perfecting our acquaintance with a genus, which more than 
most others requires a division of labour. 
RUBUS, Linn. 
Ordo naturalis RosacEz. Tribus DryapEZz. 
Character genericus. Cal. quinquepartitus. Petala quinque. Sta- 
mina indefinita. Styli subterminales. Carpella indefinita, dru- 
pacea, supra torum protuberantem non carnosum collocata. Semen 
pendulum, prope basin styli affixum. 
A. FRUTESCENTES. 
* Caules erecti; folia pinnata. 
1. R. Ideus (Linn. !) ; caule suberecto tereti pruinoso, aculeis seta- 
ceis rectis, foliis quinato-pinnatis ternatisve, floribus axillaribus 
terminalibusque corymbosis pendulis, fructibus lanuginosis. 
R. Ideeus, Linn. Sp. Pl. 706; Eng. Bot. 2442; Rubi Germ. t.47. 
Stems 4—-8 feet high, downy, armed with setaceous straight 
declining purple, or on the white-fruited plant pale, prickles, 
