ROSACEA— ROSE FAMILY 



^ WILD STRAWBERRY 



Fragdria Virginidna 



Name from the fragrance of the fruit. 



Stemless perennial. Forming little dark green tufts 

 in scattered patches in fields, pastures, and along road- 

 sides. Nova Scotia to the Dakotas, and south to Florida 

 and Louisiana. April-June, often in October. 



Roots. — Fibrous, sending out many runners, which root 

 at their tips or nodes. 



Scapes. — Hairy, two to four inches high, bearing sev- 

 eral flowers at the summit on short pedicels. 



Leaves. — Basal, compound; leaflets three, obovate, 

 wedge-shaped, coarsely serrate. 



Flowers. — White, rose-shaped, three-fourths of an inch 

 across. 



Calyx. — Five sepals, alternate with five bracts, which 

 show between the petals. 



Corolla. — Petals five, rounded, short-clawed. 



Stamens. — Many, orange-yellow. 



Pistils. — Many, forming a green, cone-shaped centre. 



Fruit. — Composed of an enlarged receptacle, or top 

 of the flower-stem, which becomes pulpy and scarlet, bear- 

 ing the minute dry akenes scattered over its surface. 



" Doubtless God could have made a better berry than the straw- 

 berry, but doubtless God never did." — Izaak Walton. 



"My lord of Ely, when I was last in Holborn I saw good straw- 

 berries in your garden there." — "Henry V," Shakespeare. 



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