i84 THE FRUITS OF THE COUNTRY-SIDE 



mawkish, vapid, and insipid. Turner, in 1568, says "it 

 is a fruyt of small honor." It is, however, not by any means 

 despised by the thrushes, blackbirds, and other feathered 

 visitors. Pliny, Dioscorides, and other early writers warn 

 their disciples against eating the fruit too freely. 



Very few " vertues " are ascribed to the tree. One old 

 writer, however, goes so far as to declare that a water 

 distilled from its leaves is " a sacred preservative and 

 antidote against the plague and poisons." If this be alone 

 its plea for recognition to our gratitude it is surely ample. 



Why the Romans called the strawberry-tree the arbutus ^ 

 does not appear. They also called it the unedo, and these 

 two classical names have been placed in juxtaposition and 

 made the present botanical name of the plant. Both these 

 names are used by Pliny, and he explains the latter by 

 declaring that the fruit appeals to one's taste so little that it 

 is a case of unus, one, and edo, I eat, that being all you- 

 need-o ! 



BUTCHER'S BROOM (Ruscus Aculeatus) 



The Butcher's Broom, Ruscus aculeatus, though 

 singularly modest and retiring looking from the duU green 

 of its stems and foliage, is a plant of considerable interest, 

 from the peculiar position of the flowers, the blossom 

 rising on a short stalk from the centre of the leaf. The 

 flowers appear in April, some being stamen-bearing, others 

 pistil-bearing. They are diminutive in size and of a dull 



■ Horace, for instance, has the \mt" N7inc vindi membra stih arhuto stratus" 

 stretched beneath the verdant arbutus. The reference to its desirabihty as a 

 resting-place derives its force from the shade-giving powers of the tree. We 

 find Virgil, too, referring to its value as a shelter from the sun. 



