NOTES FROM A GARDEN HERBARIUM— 11. 



719 



pungens, glaicca was growing finely here, being 

 regular in outline and remarkable in its glauces- 

 ence. It is a most beautiful lawn tree and ought 

 to be a great favorite in America. To me it was 

 a very interesting sight to observe so many young 

 and beautiful trees introduced from the Pacific 

 coast range flourishing so well in this nursery. 

 Passing from the fir trees to the cedars our atten- 

 tion was directed to some fine specimens of Cedrus 

 Atlantica, glauca, a most beautiful lawn tree, as in 

 fact nearly all the cedars are ; and such varieties 

 as were presented to me here in all their youth 

 and beauty were afterwards seen in all their 

 majesty in many of the large cities in England, for 

 what tree is there that will equal in grandeur or 

 that will harmonize with the Grecian style of 

 architecture like the Cedar of Lebanon, and what 

 a royal tree is the Cedrus Deodara, or Indian 

 Cedar ! It is a magnificent species, and when 

 grown singly on a lawn is very striking. The 

 young trees of this species as grown at Coombe 

 Wood Nursery were remarkably handsome in their 

 foliage. It is considered by many as tlie most 

 beautiful of all ornamental trees. 



Of the cupressus which I saw here, Cupressus alba. 



spica nana, a garden variety, was very pretty ; also C. 

 albo-variegata, C. glauca, and C. fragrans . Larix 

 Kinnpferi, the golden larch, was very striking. Among 

 the Japanese cypress were some very striking species, 

 such as Reiinospora filifera, aurea, R. hpioclada , R. gra- 

 cilis, aiipea, and R. argentea. Besides all these I have 

 mentioned, they grow large quantities of all kinds of 

 hardy trees and shrubs, many of which are remarkable 

 for their foliage, form and color. Of these I will 

 mention golden arborvitas, golden yew, silver holly, 

 Japanese maples, purple beech. The Acer Kegtindo, 

 fraxinifolia variegata is a very striking object in a 

 landscape, with its silvery, paper-like foliage. It im- 

 mediately attracts attention and is considered one of 

 the most effective trees when viewed in contrast with 

 the deep green of other trees. It is in great demand 

 for this purpose, and it is sometimes used in connection 

 with Primus PissarJii for grouping ; in fact, there is a 

 great demand in England for nearly all kinds of trees 

 and shrubs having high-colored, variegated striking 

 foliage. American plants, such as rhododendrons, 

 kalmias, hardy azaleas, and andromedas, in all their 

 varieties, are grown in immense quantities at Coombe 

 Wood Nursery. In fact I found this place replete with 

 good things, most carefully and systematically grown, 

 and thus of good salable quality. 



Rochester, N. Y. Wm. Webster. 



NOTES FROM A GARDEN HERBARIUM— II. 



OUR BLACKBERRIES AND RASPBERRIES. 



LIR CULTIVATED brambles fall 

 readily into two groups — the black- 

 berries, characterized by the adher- 

 ent receptacle or ' ' core " which pulls 

 off with the fruit, and the raspber- 

 ries or tliimble-berries, in which the 

 receptacle parts from the fruit and 

 remains on the bush. With the ex- 

 ception of the raspberries of the 

 Fontenay and Fastolff type, all these fruits have 

 come into cultivation within the last 70 years, and 

 they are offspring of our common wild species. 

 None of the varieties differ widely from the wild 

 species, and yet, in a botanical sense, they are little 

 understood. There has never been an attempt, so 

 far as I am aware, to refer our cultivated sorts to 

 their proper species and botanical varieties. The 

 brambles are a puzzling group. In Europe, the 

 blackberries run into almost endless natural varie- 

 ties, and the knowledge of them is much confused. 

 Our own blackberries are widely variable and they 

 need to be systematically studied. 



The common blackberry, Rubus villosiis, runs into 



high and low forms. Of the high bush forms, four types 

 are readily distinguished, at least by characters of fruit : 



Rubus villosus, Alton. Fruit firm and dry, narrow, 

 varying from nearly globular on stunted plants to long- 

 oblong on thrifty ones, dull in color, sweet, the drupe- 

 lets small and closely packed. 



Var. SATivus, new variety. Fruit larger, loose and 

 soft, broad, globular or globular-oblong, shining, sour 

 until very ripe, the drupelets large and fleshy. This is 

 the parent of nearly all the cultivated varieties of high 

 blackberry, most of which are simply wild forms trans- 

 ferred to the garden. It is probable that characters of 

 habit and of various organs are different in these two 

 types, but I am unable yet to designate them. It will 

 be an interesting experiment, which we are now making, 

 to determine if cultivation will modify perceptibly the 

 characters of the long and firm fruits of the forms which 

 I have referred to the type of Rubus villosits _ 



Both these plants are characterized by broadly ovate 

 leaflets, hairy glandular leaves, petioles and inflores- 

 cence, a more or less elongated and nearly or quite 

 leafless inflorescence, and large long-petaled flowers. 

 Fig. I shows a wild plant of Rubus villosus, with a short 

 inflorescence. 



Var. FRONDOsus, Torrey. (Fig. 2, p. 723. ) Plant lower 



