ICOSANDRIA POLYGYNIA 307 



Stem 2 to 3 feet high, nearly terete, or slightly angular, finally smoothish, P ur- 

 nlish brown, almost shrubby, armed with numerous subulate recurved prickles, 

 branched ; branches pubescent. Leaves ternatc, rarely quinatc ; petioles half an 

 inch to an inch and half long, sufTruticosc, pubescent, often very prickly ; stipules 

 subulate-linear ; leaflets 1 to 2 inches long, and half an inch to about an inch wide, 

 more or less cuneate, and obtuse, with a short abrupt acumination, unequally den, 

 tate-serrate at summit, serratures acuminate, margin entire and somewhat revo- 

 lute below the middle, upper surface deep green, sprinkled with fine appressed 

 hairs, clothed with a cinereous tomentum beneath, mostly ferruginous on the 

 nerves, nerves prominent, giving the leaflets a plicate appearance, midrib aculeate, 

 the terminal leaflet on a short petiole, lateral ones subsessile, sometimes partially 

 lobed and rarely divided so as to form a quinatc leaf. Corymbs terminal, few- 

 flowered ; pedicels diverging, pubescent, aculeate, and often with 1 or 2 bracts near 

 ;he middle, lower ones axillary, elongated. Calyx tomentose ; segments lance - 

 ovate, short-acuminate, or mucronate. Petals white, sometimes tinged with red, 

 lance-oval, cuneate at base, 3 times as long as the calyx. Ftuit oveid, or oval, 

 rather small (about half an inch long), black when mature, succulent and well- 

 flavored (hard and dry, Pursh)\ carpels rugose-pitted when dried, keeled, gibbons, 

 obliquely beaked by the base of the style. 

 Hob. Dry hills ; E. Nantmcal township : rare. FL May— June. FY. July. 



Obs. Collected by D. Townsend, Esq. in 1835, on the farm of Mr. Mordeeai 

 Evans, in East Nantmeal. It is very common in New Jersey,— and has been found 

 in Delaware County, by Mr. Joshua Hoopes; but the above is the only locality 

 yet known in Chester County. 



4. R. tillosus, Ait. Stem erect, angular, smoothish, aculeate ; young 

 branches, leaves and racemes glandular-pubescent; leaves ternate and 

 quinatc ; leaflets ovate, and lance-oval ; racemes simple, elongated, 

 loose, many-flowered ; pedicels longish, bracteate at base ; calyx-seg- 

 ments oblong-ovate, mucronately acuminate. Beck, Bot.p. 103. 

 R. fruticosus. Marsh. Arbust. p. 137. Not of Linn* 

 Villose Rcbub. Vulgo— Blackberry bush. Common Brier, 



Root creeping. Stem 3 to 6 or 8 feet high, mostly erect, stout, angular, or ridged 

 and somewhat grooved, smooth, dark brown or purple, often greenish, almost 

 shrubby, armed with stout curved prickles, branching ; young branches and 

 racemes clothed with a villose glandular pubescence, somewhat aculeate. Leaves 

 ternatf, or often quinate on stems of the first year, sometimes simple near tb« 

 racemes; petioles villose and aculeate ; stipules subulate, or lance-linear; Uqflets 

 2 to 3 or 4 inches long, and 1 to 2 inches wide, varying from ovate to lance-oblong 

 and obovate, mostly acute, doubly or unequally serrate, pilose above, villose be- 

 neath and aculeate on the midrib, the lateral ones on short petioles (or subsessile), 

 the terminal petiole much longer. Racemes terminal, rather large, many-flowered ; 

 pedicels half an inch to an inch or more in length, alternate, each with an oblong- 

 lanceolate, or often 3-cleft, bract at base,— sometimes the racemes are leafy, with 

 a long pedicel from the axil of each simple lance-ovate ] etiolate leaf(var./ronctostu* 

 Bigel). Calyx villose ; segments oblong-ovate, with a rather short abrupt sub- 

 linear acumination, and a whitish tomentum on the margins and inner surfaee. 

 Petals white, obovate-oblong, or lance-oval, spreading, rather distant when ex- 

 panded. Fruit ovoid-oblong, large (half an inch to near an inch in length), at first 

 green, then purple, and finally black when mature, succulent, sweetish and 

 agreeable to the taste, when fully ripe,— though acerb and bitterish previously. 

 JJab. Old fields ; borders of woods, &c common. JPT May. Fr. July-August. 



