RAND'S BLACKBERRY 



more or less of a problem to the classifying botanist. 

 The fact that so many varieties have come into culti- 

 vation — that their seeds are scattered by the birds in 

 out-of-the-way places ; that the seedlings so produced 

 will vary, returning to their type with modifications 

 — obviously, will continue to confuse the situation. 



In the meantime, the great types stand out clear 

 enough for the amateur to enjoy ; and if the variabil- 

 ity of the family tends to drive the botanist to distrac- 

 tion, it also makes possible the production of a fruit 

 unique in character and most delicious in flavor. 



As a cultivated plant the blackberry is a purely 

 American fruit ; all the varieties have been developed 

 from native wild plants ; and we alone of all peoples 

 prize "The blackberry that was the bramble born." 



RAND'S BLACKBERRY 

 Riibus rdndii. 



This is a native of northern woods, ranging from 

 New Brunswick to Maine and west to northern Michi- 

 gan. Low and diffuse in habit ; stems nearly glabrous 

 and so soft and slender as to appear almost herba- 

 ceous; prickles few and weak, often wanting. Leaves 

 are very thin, three or five-foliate. The flower cluster 

 is long, many-flowered ; the flowers about half the size 

 of those of Rubus nigrobaccus ; the fruit small, dry and 

 seedy. 



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