86 THE INDIANA WEED BOOK. 



number to the calyx lobes and distinct, or none ; stamens numerous, 

 distinct; ovaries 1-many, 1-celled. Fruit of various forms, mostly 

 capsules opening by a single valve, or achenes. 



A large and important family which formerly included the 

 apples, pears, cherries, etc. Recently, however, it has been divided 

 into three families, the Rosaceae as above restricted; the Pomaceae, 

 including the apples, pears, June-berries and red-haws ; and the 

 Drupaceae, comprising the plums, cherries and peaches. To the 

 Rosacea?, as now defined, belong the meadow-sweets, raspberries, 

 blackberries, strawberries, cinquefoils, avens, agrimonies, roses and 

 many other forms. About 50 members of the family are known to 

 grow wild in Indiana, but only a few of them intrude upon culti- 

 vated or pasture lands in such numbers as to be called weeds, and 

 of those which do none belong to the weeds of the first class. 



47. Rubus allegheniensis Porter. Wild Blackberry. Common Brier. 

 Bramble. (P. N. 3.) 

 Shrubby, branched, erect or recurved, 3-10 feet high, armed with 

 stout recurved prickles ; leaves compound ; leaflets 3-5, ovate, pubescent 

 beneath, coarsely toothed. Flowers white, terminal. Fruit a collection of 

 small black drupes persistent on a fleshy receptacle, broadly oval, very 

 pulpy. 



This and several close! y allied species of high blackberries are 

 found throughout the State, being much more abundant on the hill 

 slopes of the southern half. They occur mostly in poor clayey soil 

 along roadsides, fence-rows and in old neglected fields and pastures, 

 often taking complete possession of the ground. It is only where 

 by neglect the bushes are allowed to spread that they become a nui- 

 sance and crowd out the blue-grass and other forage crops. A rust 

 and numerous insects that prey upon cultivated berries are har- 

 bored by the wild canes, so that the two should not be allowed to 

 grow in close proximity. Remedies : mowing several times in late 

 summer; increased fertilization and cultivation. 



Flowering in June, the fruit of the blackberry is ripe in July 

 and August, and where desired for the table a few of the bushes 

 are a valuable asset to the farm. These berries are the fruit of 

 the earth, an offering of nature in her generous moods, her dessert 

 of wild fruit, freely given, than which there is no better. Out of 

 the clay and oilier materials of poor hillside soils the blackberry 

 canes do fashion through the chemistry of their cells, this juicy 

 pulp, sweeten it to our tastes, then offer it free for the taking. Is 

 it not a miracle of nature, a miracle greater than any accredited to 

 man, this juggling of earthy ingredients, this producing of luscious 



