276 LUTHER BURBANK 



One of these, known as the sand strawberry, is 

 quite common along the coast, espeeially in the 

 northern part of California. 



This is a plant with large, woolly leaves. It is 

 greatly inclined to produce runners. It fruits 

 sparingly, but the berries themselves are sweet 

 and of fine flavor. There is great variation as to 

 foliage and flowers, as well as in capacity for 

 fruit production. 



The variation is best explained by assuming 

 that this strawberry is itself a natural hybrid. 



Another California strawberry that has in- 

 terest is the wood strawberry, Fragaria call- 

 fornica,, a plant that usually has small leaves, 

 rather upright in growth, and producing fruit 

 abundantly, though the fruit itself is insipid and 

 hardly worth gathering. 



This plant also varies widely in different 

 localities. In the Yosemite Valley I found a 

 most astonishing variation in these as well as in 

 other strawberries. Some of the wild varieties 

 growing there were fully equal to the cultivated 

 strawberry, while others were insignificant to 

 the last degree. 



Some of the plants grew strictly upright; 

 others had leaves that hugged the ground and 

 spread in all directions. There was a wide range 

 of variation as to form, size, foliage, and fruit. 



