CL. XII.] 



17. RUBUS. 



381 



CLASS XII. 

 17. 



Rubus. (Brombeere, Himbeere.) 



This genus stands, in the Linnaean System, between Ro» 

 sa and Fragaria — a situation which is natural enough, when 

 we recollect, that all the three genera possess the family cha- 

 racter of the Rosaceae ; for the genus Rubus is shrubby, like 

 the Rosa, yet there are several herbaceous species, by means 

 of which they are connected with the Fragaria. In all of them 

 the leaves are compound ; only some species of Rubus, Rosa 

 herherifolia Pall., and Fragaria monophyUa Willd., are an ex- 

 ception. In all of them the calyx is quinquepartite, internally 

 of the nature of a corolla, and carries five petals, and an in- 

 determinate number of filaments. The ovaria are also inde- 

 terminate in number, and each of them has its pistillum on 

 its summit. But there is this remarkable difference, that in 

 the genus Rosa the lower part of the calyx swells into the 

 form of a berry, and contains the seed within it, whilst, in 

 the Rubus and Fragaria, the seeds lie upon the receptacle, 

 and are often surrounded by the lower calyx. The two lat- 

 ter species are essentially distinguished by the following 

 circumstances. In the Jirst place, the calyx of Fragaria 

 has five subordinate leaves between its principal divisions, 

 and may therefore be called decempartite, whilst in Rubus, 

 on the other hand, the calyx is only quinquepartite. In the 

 second place, the receptacle of Fragaria swells, and con- 

 tains the naked caryopsis imbedded in its surface, whilst 

 Rubus carries compound, one-seeded, juicy berries. All the 

 Rosaceae, however, agree in this, that the seed contains no 

 albumen, but only the evolved embryon, with its cotyledons 

 turned downwards, and its truncated radicle directed up- 



