The Bramble 



the heating of and exhalation from this tissue." 

 But probably in the Bramble the hairiness is ra,ther 

 to protect from mists which rise from below. In the 

 late autumn a pale twining mark like the trail of a 

 serpent is sometimes seen. This was formerly 

 regarded with superstition as the special mark of 

 the Devil, and such shrubs were severely left alone, 

 however luscious their fruit. Nowadays we know 

 that it is merely the track of a small moth. 



The flowers may be found in bloom from June 

 to October, and they have the usual character of the 

 rose family, to which this plant belongs. There are 

 the five sepals, in a cup-like ring at first, but sharply 

 turning down their long, fine points as the flower 

 approaches maturity ; five delicate petals, some- 

 times white, sometimes tinged with pink ; very 

 many stamens crowded in a thick ring, and in the 

 centre and raised above sepals, petals and stamens 

 are the many carpels. (In the crab-apple with a 

 similar flower, the carpels are sunk in a depression 



at the end of the leaf stalk, and this is the more 



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