WILD FRUITS OF NEBRASKA. 101 



STRAWBERRIES. 



Two species and one variety of strawberries, with endless modi- 

 fications, are common all over Eastern Nebraska. They flourish on 

 the sides of the bluffs, and at the edge of timber belts, from which 

 they creep far out on the prairies. Perhaps the commonest straw- 

 berry is Fragaria vesca, which has produced the Alpine, Wood, 

 Perpetual, and many other varieties. Here it is mostly slender, 

 with thin dull leaves, strongly marked by the veins, calyx open or 

 reflexed after flowering; and fruit inclined to be conical or elongat- 

 ed, much like the so-called lady finger, and fully as large and high 

 scented. The runners often creep several feet. This strawberry 

 varies so much that I have often been unable to distinguish it from 

 the Fragaria Virginiana except by one character, its seeds (akenes], 

 which are always superficial, and seem to stick out of the berry. So 

 abundant is this fruit in some seasons that the ground in its favorite 

 retreats seems absolutely red with it. Once when making a survey 

 of some timber lands in Dakota County, on a sultry July day, and 

 almost exhausted by the heat and from thirst, I unexpectedly came 

 to a patch of these berries in an opening of the woods. Never be- 

 fore was I so grateful for fruit, and fruit that was delicious enough 

 to adorn the finest tables in Christendom. As already intimated, 

 this species is the most variable of all the strawberries. It is found 

 all over Europe and in all the high and on many of the low lands of 

 Ndrth America. Its tendency to become everbearing, so strikingly 

 exemplified elsewhere, is also characteristic of it in many places in 

 Nebraska. I have noticed localities where it produced a succession 

 of ripe berries for two months. 



The other species common to this State is Fragaria Virginiana. 

 It is the original of the American scarlet and innumerable other va- 

 rieties. It can be distinguished from the former by the seeds (akenes) 

 being sunk in the flesh of the berry. Its runners are seldom over a 

 foot long. Its flowers however are staminate, that is, its male and 

 female organs arc on different plants. There is an insensible gra- 

 dation between this species and the variety Illinoiensis of Gray, 

 which is coarser and larger, and the hairs which are scattered over 

 it, especially on the flower stock, are rougher. The strawberries of 

 Nebraska need to be thoroughly examined. Certainly where there 

 is such a tendency shown to varieties and improvement, some of the 

 most promising, under the skillful treatment of the gardener, would 

 become permanent additions to our list of desirable small fruits. 



