BRAMBLE, Rebus 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 (brambleberry or blackberry) is too well known to need description. Besides affording much enjoyment to children, who collect it from hedges and thickets, it is sometimes offered for sale in towns, and jelly and jam are prepared from it of very deli cate flavor, besides a wine, which, both in strength and flavor, is held by many to excel all products of similar native fruits of Britain. The B. is rarely cultivated, per haps because it is in most districts so abundant in a wild state; but it seems to deserve intention at least as much as the raspberry, and might probably be as much improved by cultivation. A slight rail on each side of a row of brambles, to restrain the strag gling 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.—There are many dif
ferent species of B., according to some—varieties according to other—botanists, to which the name is indiscriminately given, and which may almost all be regarded as belonging to the Lineman mints fruticosus. From this was separated B. corylifolius of Smith, a common British plant, and from these some German and British botanists have sepa rated many other alleged species. R. suberectus has more the habit of the raspberry than most of the other kinds, but even its claims to be received as a species are not admitted without doubt by some of the most eminent botanists. A variety of B. with white fruit is occasionally met with.—Species of rebus very similar to the common B., or varieties of it, abound in the northern parts of Asia, the Himalaya mountains, and North America. See Rtmus.