82 



NOTES FROM A GARDEN HERBARIUM. 



none of which, however, are natives of the country, 

 but nevertheless are of some importance in the regions 

 where they can be grown. Of the three, 



The Pineapple (Jap., Annanasu) appears to be the 

 most important. I have frequently seen quantities of 

 them in the stores of certain fruit dealers in Tokio, 

 grown on the small southern islands, and they are prob- 

 ably also shipped to others of the large cities which 

 afford a market. They are even canned in the south in 

 the same manner as in this country, and thus distributed 

 in the northern cities. It is but just to add that neither 

 the fresh nor the canned fruit I have had opportunity to 

 see can compare with the fruit found in the American 

 market in size and quality. 



The Guava (^Psidiiitii Giiaiazu!). Jap., Banjiro. 

 Though one of the fruits of the south, it has not 

 attained the importance commercially that the pine- 

 apple has. It is said to do well there, and there is 

 apparently no reason why the fruit should not be made 

 into jam and canned for market, as is done elsewhere. 



The Rose Apple {^Eugenia Jambos ; Jap., Futo-moind) 

 comes in the same category. All that can be said of it 

 at present is that it can be grown there, and is so to 

 some extent. 



Myrica rubra, Sieb. and Zucc. (/)/. Nagi, Cass.). Jap , 

 Yama-iitonto. — This very pretty evergreen tree is closely 

 related to the sweet gale (_I\Iyriia Gale'], well known in 

 America. It is a small tree, attaining a height of some 

 fifteen to twenty feet, with oblong or lanceolate dark 

 green somewhat leathery leaves. They are some three 



to four inches long, smooth and glistening, lighter 

 green below and with nearly entire margins. A 

 fruit-bearing twig with leaves is illustrated in Fig. 8, 

 natural size. This tree, or large bush, grows especi- 

 ally in the mountains of southern Japan. Its name, 

 yama-momo, indicates its habitation, as it means, liter- 

 ally, "mountain peach." How far north it grows wild 

 I am not prepared to say. One Japanese authority 

 asserts that it grows all over Japan, a statement I am 

 unable to verify. But it is certain it is much more 

 abundant in the south than in the central portion of the 

 country. The largest specimen I have seen is in the 

 botanical garden in Tokio. It is about twelve feet high, 

 with a very dense, spreading, round head, and begins 

 to branch a short distance above ground. It is very 

 ornamental. The fruit when fully ripe is pleasantly 

 acidulated and juicy. It is apparently made up of a 

 large number of densely crowded sections, quite distinct 

 from each other, but radiating from a small central 

 stone or hard seed. On the specimen illustrated the fruit 

 was red, but there are varieties with fruit of different 

 colors. A white-fruited kind is said to be of very excel- 

 lent quality, and having comparatively large fruit. The 

 tree is commonly propagated by seed, but the Japanese 

 assert that it can also be grafted on the mulberry. It is 

 planted by them partly for fruit and partly for orna- 

 ment, but not largely for either purpose. The bark is 

 an important dye-stuff, and will be further mentioned 

 in treating of dye-stuff-yielding plants. 



Kansas Agricultural College. C. C. Georgeson. 



NOTES FROM A GARDEN HERBARIUM— III. 



more about the dewberries. 



HREE months ago (Novem- 

 ber issue, page £41) in de- 

 scribing the dewberries, I 

 remarked that the Bartell 

 and Mammoth varieties 

 "are clearly distinct from 

 the Lucretia," and referred 

 then with considerable 

 doubt to the type of Riiluts 

 Canadensis . Since then my colleague, Professor Dud- 

 ley, has shown me a suite of wild specimens of the 

 same rubus which he has collected in this vicinity. 

 I am therefore able to make some definite notes 

 upon it. 



In order to understand these dewberries, it is neces- 

 sary to draw distinctions between Rubus Canadensis, 

 which comprises the dewberries, and Rubus villosus, the 

 high blackberries. The chief distincdon lies in the in- 

 florescence. In the blackberries. A', ''illosus, the flower 

 cluster is long and racemose, as shown in Figs, i and 2, 

 pp. 720 and 723, December issue. In the dewberries it 



is essentially cymose, as shown in the accompanying 

 illustrations, and in the frontispiece of Lucretia dewberry 

 in November issue. Figs, i, 2 and 3 are good illustra- 

 tions of the dewberry flower cluster. The peduncles are 

 few and erect, and the central one is the oldest. The 

 peduncles are sometimes one, two or three in number 

 and are so scattered as to appear to be solitary and ax- 

 illary. I do not know of any other character 

 which will separate clearly the dewberries and black- 

 berries, but so far as I have observed, this character 

 does. Those familiar with our brambles will here re- 

 call the description of the variety liutnifusus of Rubus 

 villosus, which is characterized by i to 3-flowered 

 clusters, but I am satisfied that this variety is nothing 

 more than Rubus Canadensis itself. The description of 

 the plant, as originally given by Torrey and Gray, 

 clearly indicates this fact. Professor Britton has re- 

 cently loaned me Torrey's collection of brambles, and 

 the only plants of this variety in the collection which 

 appear to have passed through his hands are unmis- 

 takeably R. Canadensis. In the Gray Herbarium there 

 are no authentic specimens of this variety, if I remem- 

 ber correctly. 



