STRAWBERRY. 43 



wild and cultivated varieties, but there are various grada- 

 tions from each of these ; for, while the natural flower gen- 

 erally contains about twenty stamens, some cultivated 

 varieties have less than half that number, while others, as 

 I have shown, possess none. Consequently, if a variety is 

 produced which has flowers destitute of stamens, it will be 

 dependent upon others for fertilization. Many such have 

 from time to time been produced and disseminated in the 

 last fifty years. That some seedlings produced perfect 

 flowers, while others have those that are imperfect, was ob- 

 served in Europe at least a hundred years ago. This pecu- 

 liarity was first observed in the seedlings of the Hautbois, 

 but afterwards in the seedlings of other species, although 

 it does not appear to be of so common occurrence in Eu- 

 rope as in the United States. 



The reasi. n for this -I am not able to state, unless it be 

 because the Fragaria Virginiana, from which the greater 

 portion of our varieties is produced, is more subject to 

 the change than other species. It may be that our climate 

 has something to do with it, but whatever may be the 

 cause, the effect is apparent in many pistillate varieties of 

 Strawberries in cultivation. 



Keen reported his observations upon this variation in the 

 sexes of the Strawberry, in 1809, to the London Horticul- 

 tural Society. This called the attention of growers in this 

 country to the subject, but very little was said or written 

 in relation to it until Mr. Hovey produced his seedling 

 Strawberry in 1834. 



This being a pistillate, and the largest and best variety 

 that had been as yet produced in this country, it gave rise 

 to an immense amount of discussion upon the sexuality of 

 the Strawberry. There appear to be a few men who are 

 always ready to ride any new hobby, whether it has one 

 leg or more. Consequently there were a few who imme- 

 diately started the theory that the botanists had made a 

 great mistake, and that the Strawberry was naturally di- 



