A WAYSIDE BERRY. 17 



questions upon which modern theories of life 

 have cast such a sudden and unexpected 

 flood of light. What makes the strawberry 

 stalk grow out into this odd and brightly 

 coloured lump, bearing its small fruits em- 

 bedded on its swollen surface ? Clearly the 

 agency of those same small birds who have 

 been mainly instrumental in dressing the 

 haw in its scarlet coat, and clothing the 

 spindle-berries with their two-fold covering of 

 crimson doublet and orange cloak. 



In common language we speak of each 

 single strawberry as a fruit. But it is in 

 reality a collection of separate fruits, the tiny 

 yellow-brown grains which stud its sides 

 being each of them an individual little nut ; 

 while the sweet pulp is, in fact, no part of the 

 true fruit at all, but merely a swollen stalk. 

 There is a white potentilla so like a straw- 

 berry blossom that even a botanist must look 

 closely at the plant before he can be sure of 

 its identity. While they are in flower the 

 two heads remain almost indistinguishable ; 



c 



