108 KEY TO BRITISH RUBI. 



I could furnish further particulars, but have said enough to 

 show that the subject merits respectful treatment, and not con- 

 temptuous negation, unsupported by evidential facts. "Sic volo, 

 sic jabeo," whatever else may be said for it, is quite out of place in 

 scientific enquiries ; and analogy is not proof. Mr. Clarke's 

 interesting statement about the Andover forms of Corylus does 

 not seem to call for any observations of mine. 



AN ESSAY AT A KEY TO BRITISH RUBI. 



By the Rev. W. Moyle Rogers, F.L.S. 



This is no more than it professes to be, an essay at a very 

 difficult task, and I shall be content if it prepares the way for 

 something better. My object is to confine myself, as far as 

 possible, to such characters as are either essential or seem 

 especially helpful for the determination of our species. For full 

 descriptions in most cases the student is referred to those given 

 by Prof. Babington in his British Rnbi, his Manual, of British 

 Botany, and his supplementary "Notes" contributed to this 

 Journal (188G, pp. 216, &c, 225, &c. ; and 1887, pp. 20, &c, 

 327, &c.) ; and to Dr. Focke's Synopsis Ruboratn Ger mania, and his 

 papers in this Journal (1890, pp. 97, &c, 129, &c, and 165, 166). 



In the few instances where no help is to be derived from these 

 sources, other references will generally be given, in addition to 

 fuller details than usual in the "key." As will be readily seen on 

 comparison, I am under great obligations to Prof. Babington's 

 and Dr. Focke's works quoted above, and especially to the brief 

 analytical tables in Dr. Focke's Synopsis. 



By "prickles" and "leaves," those of the barren stem are 

 meant in every case where it is not otherwise expressly stated. To 

 economise space I have adopted the same abbreviations as occur in 

 Prof. Babington's Manual, but have not thought it prudent to use 

 any others. 



It may not be out of place if I add here that as the preparation 

 of this "key" was undertaken at the urgent request of a diligent 

 student of brambles, so the utmost I hope for it is that it may 

 prove a preliminary help to students, furnishing some of them with 

 an easier entrance into the path of study. In such a genus as 

 Habits, at all events, there is no "shortcut" to real knowledge, 

 nor any possibility of acquiring it mainly through the labours of 

 another. 



Section I. Frutescentes. — Stem shrubby. Stipules attached 



to the petiole. Fl. panicled or racemose. Eeceptacle conical. 



Subsection I. Im:i. — Stems suberect, never rooting at end ; 

 biennial. Ripe fruit separating from its receptacle. L. often pinnate. 



