WHITE BEAM 39 



This useful plant was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin. 



" The Strawberry grows underneath the nettle, 

 And wholesome berries thrive and ripen best 

 Neighbour'd by fruit of baser quality." 



The runners were used in medicine, being- called Strebery Cyses, 

 and used in a preparation for wounds, and a " Drynk of Antioch ". 

 As early as the reign of Edward I the Wild Strawberry was cultivated 

 in Englaifd, and may be the origin of the Hautboy type (hautbois, 

 high wood, of Bohemia). 



ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 



97. Fragaria vesca, L. Stoloniferous, leaves green, leaflets ternate, 

 sessile, hairy, peduncles erect with spreading hairs, flowers small, white, 

 petals entire, calyx recurved in fruit, hairs on pedicels appressed, fruit 

 fleshy with small achenes, on a receptacle. 



White Beam (Pyrus Aria, Ehrh.) 



Fruits of White Beam have been found in Preglacial beds at Pake- 

 field in Suffolk. It grows on Roman ruins at Silchester. To-day it 

 is a typical member of the flora of the North Temperate Zone, found 

 in Europe, North Africa, N. and W. Asia. In Great Britain it is 

 local, and is absent from Cornwall but found in the Channel province; 

 and it is absent from Essex in the Thames province, and E. Norfolk, 

 Hunts, and Northants in Anglia; it is absent from Worcester and 

 Warwick in the Severn province; and in Wales occurs only in Gla- 

 morgan, Radnor, Carmarthen, Montgomery, Carnarvon, Denbigh. It 

 is absent in Flint, S. Lines, and in the Mersey district is absent 

 entirely, and is not found in S.E. or N.E. York, nor in Northumber- 

 land, nor in the Isle of Man. Elsewhere in Scotland it is found in 

 Edinburgh, Linlithgow, Stirling, West Perth, S. Aberdeen, Cantire, 

 W. Sutherland. It is found in Yorks at a height of 1500 ft. 



The White Beam is a woodland tree which is found very commonly 

 on chalky and calcareous soils in the south of England and elsewhere, 

 being planted in copses in some districts where it is doubtfully 

 indigenous. 



It is a tall, deciduous tree, with a main stem, with numerous 

 ascending branches, which are closely ramified. The buds are erect, 

 a protection against cold. The leaves are oval-elliptic, with deeply cut 

 unequal serratures, below entire, whilst at the end the lobes are more 

 marked. The leaves are downy underneath, a character of importance 



