THE SMALL FRUITS OF NEW YORK 37 1 



CHAPTER XV 



THE SYSTEMATIC BOTANY OF THE STRAWBERRY 



Strawberries form part of the Rose family, Rosaceae; they are closely 

 allied to Potentilla, from which they chiefly differ in the receptacle of the 

 flower becoming fleshy and edible. They are low, perennial herbs, and 

 propagate easily by runners and seeds. They chiefly inhabit the temperate 

 regions of the Northern Hemisphere, and on the American continent follow 

 the long moimtain chains from Alaska to southern Chile. In the North 

 they are common from the plains to the mountains on dry hillsides, among 

 bushes and in woods, rarely in meadows. In warmer countries they are 

 restricted to the mountain regions. The number of species is still disputed. 

 While the number of specific names given by various botanists to wild 

 specimens of Fragaria surpasses 150, others like Bentham & Hooker, and 

 Focke, only recognize about 8 species. Probably there are more than 8 

 species, but just how many can be distinguished without dispute cannot 

 be said. 



The difficulty is that strawberries are much alike and possess scarcely 

 any distinguishing specific characters. Characters on which most specific 

 descriptions rely, as size of leaves, petioles, peduncles, hairiness, and the 

 shape and dentation of the leaflets, are exceedingly variable. Most species 

 have a wide geographical range with few or many natural varieties. 

 Besides this variation spontaneous hybrids are known and expected to exist 

 wherever two or more species come in contact. It is therefore not always 

 easy to decide to which species a given wild strawberry belongs or where 

 the limits of a species shoiild be drawn. 



In the North American Flora 2"] species are described as inhabiting 

 North America inclusive of Mexico and Jamaica. However, several of 

 these have little claim as species and are scarcely more than varieties, and 

 one is a garden hybrid. All of the North American strawberries have edible 

 fruits and some may help to meet local climatic requirements when used in 

 breeding work. The Old World species have been cultivated for a long 

 time. At present they have only historical interest as they are totally 

 eclipsed by the large-fruited varieties resulting from 2 species of the New 

 World, one from Chile {F. chiloensis) and one from the United States and 

 Canada {F. i^irginiana). 



Sex is of great importance to the grower. Some flowers are hermaphro- 

 dite, that is, they have both fertile stamens and pistils; in other cases one 



