134 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 



posite of several species, including the Hautbois and vesca, 

 as well as the Virginian and Chilean. 



While the anatomical characters of modern varieties 

 furnish no conclusive clue to their botanical origin, there 

 are several points worth noting. The position of the seeds 

 is a character of segregation between the Chilean and the 

 Virginian species. In the former they are commonly 

 exserted or but slightly imbedded ; in the latter they are 

 sunk into deep, angular pits. Most of the early North 

 American varieties had sunken seeds. According to 

 Hooper's "Western Fruit Book," the seeds of the Hovey 

 were "imbedded in a small cavity." Modern varieties 

 show both contrasting characters, but those with exserted 

 seeds are more numerous now, as the berries are less 

 likely to be bruised. 



A long neck characterized many of the varieties follow- 

 ing the Hovey. The berries of F. chiloensis rarely have 

 a pronounced neck, but this feature is quite common in 

 the Virginian and in F. vesca. The Banana strawberry, 

 introduced about 1870, was the most conspicuous example 

 of a necked variety (Fig. 18). This variety was a seedling 

 of Agriculturist, which came from Green Prolific, which 

 was a seedling of the Hovey. Long necks are not desired 

 now, since such berries do not carry to market well. 



The abundance of runners of many modern varieties 

 may be an indication of F. virginiana blood. Some forms 

 of F. chiloensis, as the Alaska beach strawberry, have 

 numerous runners, but the species as a whole is char- 

 acterized by a very moderate runner production, as com- 

 pared with F. virginiana. The wild Scarlet makes 

 runners in the greatest profusion. This habit always 

 has been one of the greatest defects of the Scarlet under 

 cultivation ; it makes so many plants that the bed is over- 



