Bramble

Bramble, or BLACKBERRY (Rubus fruticosus), a plant common in Britain and most parts of Europe, having prickly stems, which somewhat resemble those of the Raspberry (q.v.). The flowers do not appear till the summer is considerably advanced, and the fruit ripens towards the end of it, continuing to be produced till the frosts of winter set in. The fruit is too well known to need description. Preserves are prepared from it of very delicate flavour, besides a pleasant and fairly potent wine. The bramble is little cultivated in Britain; but it seems to deserve attention at least as much as the raspberry, and shows great capacity for improvement by cultivation. A slight rail on each side of a row of brambles, to restrain the straggling stems, affords the necessary security for neatness and order, and the care bestowed is repaid by abundance of fruit, very acceptable where wild brambles are not plentiful, and at a season when there is no other small fruit in the garden. This being one of the most variable of British plants, its systematic arrangement has been a matter of great controversy, especially among pre-evolutionary botanists. Baker enumerates 21 sub-species, of which most again pass into varieties. Some are very pretty, and reward cultivation on the rock-garden. In America, where they are called Blackberries, they are extensively cultivated for their fruit; and of late American kinds have been with advantage introduced into Britain.—Species of Rubus very similar to the common bramble, or varieties of it, abound in the northern parts of Asia, the Himalaya Mountains, and North America. See RUBUS.