164 ENGLISH BOTANT. 



and torn dresses to secure the ripe black fruit so much prized by youthful appetites 1 

 We can well remember with what joy we have set forth on a bright September day, 

 crooked stick in hand, and an empty basket slung over the arm, to return in the evening 

 •with hands and face dyed with the purple juice, and enough fruit to furnish the larder 

 •with tarts and pies for many a day. We can speak with certainty of the advantage of 

 a few slices of apple mixed -with the Blackberries in tarts, and we have eaten a delicious 

 jam or " rob " made in Scotland of Blackberries, not inferior to any other fruit. This 

 species of Bramble is more common than any other, and also attains a greater size. 

 The fruits are called in some parts of England " bumblekites," and in others " scald- 

 berries," from the notion that they give children the "scald head ;" but, as they have 

 been eaten abundantly by young folks since the time of Pliny, we doubt the 

 imputation. In some parts of France they are called mures sauvages (wild mul- 

 berries), and are used for colouring wine : and the red muscat of Toulon is so coloured. 

 In French Guiana, the fruit is gathered and given to pigs. The leaves are sometimes 

 used for feeding silkworms, as a substitute for mulbeiTy-l eaves. In the hot summer of 

 1858, a number of cocoons of the silkworm were found upon some Brambles in Kent, the 

 caterpillars having probably been hatched from some eggs accidentally scattered there. 

 The silk produced was of good quality. The caterpillars seemed to have fed on various 

 wild plants in the vicinity, as well as on the Bramble-leaves. Whether silkworms 

 could be successfully reared here in that manner in ordinary seasons is very doubtful ; 

 but it would be worth a trial. The strong stiff stems of the Bramble make the best 

 standards for kites, according to country boys, and the pliable ones are used for binding 

 down thatch, being pegged down to prevent the straw being blown away by the wind, 

 and also for the same purpose in beehives. In country churchyards we find them used 

 i'or binding down graves, in the manner of osier-twigs. The green branches yield a 

 black dye, which has been used to dye woollen and silk. According to Gerarde, a 

 decoction of the leaves with honey makes a good and astringent gargle. The other 

 species of Eubus yield edible fruits. 



Group I.— SUBERECTI. Bab. 



Barren stems usually sub-erect, not rooting at the end, 

 glabrous or with distant hairs, destitute of gland-tipped setae ; 

 prickles nearly uniform. Sepals with a narrow white-felted border 

 externally. 



Sub-Species I.— Rubus SUberectUS. A7iders. 

 Plate CGCCXLIV. 

 £ab. Man. Brit. Bot. ed. v. p. 97. 



Barren stem erect or sub-erect, not rooting at the apex, 

 angular with the angles obtuse at the top, smooth ; prickles 

 mostly confined to the angles of the stem, few, small, straight, 

 from a narrow compressed base. Leaves of the barren stem 

 quinate, ternate, or accidentally pinnate (from the central leaflet 

 being divided into 3) ; leaflets thin, flat, rather finely serrate ; 

 terminal leaflet ovate, cordate at the base, acuminate at the apex ; 



