BRAMBLE

(liubua fruticostu), the name commonly applied to the bush with prickly stems which bears the well-known berries usuidly called in Scotland brambles, and in England blackbemca. The name is sometimes applied to the raspberry also, a plant very similar to the ordinary bramble, and belonging to the same genus. The bramble belongs to the natural order Rosacefe, and the sub-order Potentillea;. It is rarely cultivated, but it is one of the commonest plants which grow wild in hedgerows, and when it is cultivated its fruit is improved both in quantity and qiudity. The flowers of the bramble do not appear till late in the summer, and the fruit, which is deep purple or almost black in colour, does not ripen till autumn. A kind of wine, of very good flavour, is made in England from its berries.