100 The Bramble. 



The Bramble. 



There arc not less than twenty native species of this genus 

 in the United Slates; some valued for scent, some for the ele- 

 gance of their flowers, and some for the deliciousncss of their 

 fruit ; while others are viewed by the farmer as troublesome 

 pests. They belong to the Natural Order, Rosacea?, in which, in 

 point of affinity and close resemblance, they are placed next its 

 type, the rose, differing from it. only in having the whole calyx 

 spread out ilat, and the clustered seeds each coated with a pulp. 

 The generic name comes from the Latin, ruber, red, so called 

 from the red color of its fruit. Its characters are — calyx five-cleft, 

 inferior ; corol fivc-petalled ; pistils numerous ; berry composed 

 of many juicy, one-seeded racines on a dry receptacle. It belongs 

 to the class Icosandria, order Polygynia. We will particularise 

 a few of the most useful varieties, and first, the 



Rubus Ideus — Garden Raspberry, is generally from four to 

 six feet in height, with a prickly stem ; the leaf-stalks are hol- 

 lowed lengthwise, with a rounded groove ; the leaflets arranged 

 on them in two rows, in threes or fives, of an oval, tapering 

 shape, and covered beneath with a fine down. It blooms in 

 May ; the flowers are white, in irregular bunches. Of the fruit 

 a syrup is used for medicinal purposes, to allay thirst in fevers, 

 and sometimes, though under a mistaken idea, in Calculus. 



Rubus Villosus — Tall Blackberry. This well known 

 bramble is found almost everywhere among the brushwood of 

 neglected fields and pastures, borders of woods, along the roads 

 and fences, and wherever it can find access, intruding into the 

 farmer's fields and his wife's garden. Like the preceding species, 

 it grows to the height of from four to six feet, the stem branch- 

 ing, somewhat furrowed and angular, covered with hair, and 

 extremely rough and bristly. The leaves are in threes or fives, 

 on a hairy grooved petiole ; the leaflets of an oval taper-form, 

 sharply notched on the margin, covered on both sides with hair, 

 the under side being very soft and downy. Both the leaf and 

 flower-stalks are hairy and prickly, and the expectation which is 

 thus raised from the care shown by nature in guarding the tree, 

 is fully realized afterwards in the abundant and delicious fruit.. 



