KEY TO BRITISH RUBI. 33Q 



»/ 



pedicelled ft 



like the st., but felted, and rather more hairy. Sep. strongly 

 aciculate, erect soon after flowering. Pet. rather small, white. Stam. 

 and styles ultimately conspicuously red. The nearly triangular top of 

 the term. It. is very marked. Rather frequent, though local, in 

 S. and W. Engl. ;— at all events, from Warw. to W. Cornw. and 

 S. Hants. 



The narrow lax pan. with few-flowered (and often) patent 

 branches, the clasping sep. and red stam. and styles, together 

 with the very peculiar L, give this plant usually a very distinct look. 

 Bloxarn's Warw. "foliosus," from Ansley Coalfields, has weaker st.- 

 arinature, and 1. softer and somewhat white-felted beneath, as well 

 as rather different in outline ; but his "near Solihull" plant seems 

 to connect this with adornatus. The plants placed under " R. 

 foliosus Weihe " (on Bloxam's authority) in Fl. Plym. appear to me 

 more nearly to approach R. /metis; but see Fl. Here/, p. 104. 



71. R. obscurus Kalt. B. E. C. Rep. 1890, p. 295. R. Reuteri 

 Bab. prius, Jonrn. Bot. 1886, p. 234.— St. prostrate, terete, striate, 



of a chocolate-brown colour, densely clothed with villous hair, and 

 unequal prickles, acicles and stalked glands. Larger prickles declining 



or falcate from much compressed base. L. mostly 5-nate-pedate ; 



or chiefly 3-nate in shade. Lts. narrow, hairy and dark green 



above, paler and rather softly pubescent beneath, with very crowded 



deep and usually sharp serrations, which are often nearly simple, but 



not unfrequently very compound and even lobate above ; term. 



obovate-rhomboidal-acuminate or cuspidate-acuminate, narrowed below 



to the nearly entire base. Pan. nearly cylindrical, with crowded 



erect-patent branches, and slightly rounded top; rachis and ped. densely 



felted, villous and purplish brown with crowded stalked glands, 



acicles, and slender falcate prickles. Sep. patent or ascending after 



flowering, densely villous-felted and aciculate. Pet. elliptic or 



obovate, distant, "vivid pink." Stam. somewhat longer than the 



greenish styles. Fruiting but little, like most woodland forms. 



Woods and thickets ("Banchory, N.B. M ; Lanes., Yorks., Heref., 



Monm.) ; locally abundant. 



It remains to be seen whether this can be kept apart from 



hystrix. 



abundant 



certainly keeps quite distinct from the rosaceus-hystrix form which I 

 am calling infecundus; while a taller, hairier, and less prickly 

 plant occurs here and there, appearing to connect obscurus some- 

 what with the hirtus group. 



72. B. Koekleri W. & N. — St. strong, but usually subterete or 

 only bluntly angular,, rufescent, somewhat hairy, with crowded 



prickles, tubercular-based acicles, bristles, and stalked glands of all sizes. 



Larger prickles long, mostly declining slightly from compressed 

 base. L. chiefly 5-nate-pedate. Lts. unevenly and coarsely dentate, 

 often incised upwards, glabrescent and shining above, paler and 

 usually rather thinly hairy beneath, not imbricate ; term, elliptic or 



obovate, 



subcordate. Stipules 



z2 



