THE FLOWERS OF THE HEDGES 



787 



THE BRA.MBLH. 



115 species that are known to 

 grow in the British Isles, and 

 that is not taking into account 

 anv of the varieties. 



The Wild Raspberry, from 

 which the garden varieties 

 have originated, is a species 

 of Riibiis (R. IdcBus) which is 

 frequently met with ; the Dew- 

 berry {R. cctsius) looks like a 

 luxuriant variety of the ordin- 

 ary Blackberry, but it is a 

 distinct species, and may be 

 distinguished by the fruit being 

 covered with a beautiful bloom, 

 giving it a very rich, inviting 

 appearance and a blueness in 

 colour which is wanting in the 

 ordinary Bramble fruit. The 

 Blackberry flowers do not ap- 

 pear to store any honey, but 

 they are very much visited by 

 insects for the sake oi the 



quantity of pollen borne bv the stamens, 

 so that cross fertilisation wry frequently 

 takes j)lace. 



SPINDLE-TREE 



The Spindle-tree {Eiionymus Europaus) 

 is a shrub which is more noticeable in the 

 autumn than at any other time, on 

 account of its brightly coloured fruit. 

 This is the only British member of the 

 Celastrus family ; it is a smooth shrub, 

 growing from some five or si.x to twenty 

 feet high, with ovate, finely-toothed 

 leaves. The flower stalks bear from three 

 to fi\e small, yellowish-green flowers, in 

 May, which are not at all conspicuous ; 

 and in September the curiously shaped 

 seed vessels ripen, remaining till long alter 

 the foliage has drop]X'd oft. These seed 

 vessels, or capsules, are of a bright, rosy- 

 pink colour, and are generall}' of a quad- 

 rargular shape, each of the four lobes 

 contaming a seed covered with an orange- 

 red covering. Dyes of three distinct 



TIIL SPINDLETKEE. 



