148 BUSH-FBUITS 



however, it is said to develop a pleasant flavor midway 

 between the strawberry and the raspberry, and to give 

 a brilliant, rich garnet color to the syrnp. The illustra- 

 tion (Fig. 28), life size, is adaped from "The Rural 

 New-Yorker," 1897, page 257. 



The Wmeherry (Japanese Wineberry). — This is a 

 raspberry which is found wild in the mountains of 

 central and northern Japan. Its botanical name, now 

 w^ell known, is Riihus pJioenicolasius . It forms a bush 

 three to seven feet high, with somewhat spreading and 

 rambling canes, which are thickly covered with bright 

 red hairs and weak prickles, standing out at right 

 angles to the stem. The leaves are light green and 

 whitish below. The flowers are very small, white, with 

 large, hairy, viscous sepals, which close over the fruit 

 again after blooming and keep it entirely covered until 

 about ripening time, when the}^ again open. The 

 berry is then white, but turns bright red within two 

 or three days, becoming sweet and agreeable ; said to 

 be somewhat intermediate in flavor between the red 

 and the black raspberry. Seeds were sent from Japan 

 to J. T. Lovett, in the summer of 1887, by Prof. C. 

 C. Georgeson, now of Kansas. In 1889 the stock 

 raised from this seed was sold to John Lewis Childs, 

 who introduced it under the name of Japanese Wine- 

 berrj^* The berry is of good size, firm and hand- 

 some, and owing to its peculiar covering is exempt 

 from insect attacks. It has not proved to be of 

 any real commercial value in the United States, 

 being generally tender and unproductive. It is a 



*Amer. Gar. 1891, 204. 



