3260 



STRANVvESIA 



STRAWBERRY 



STRANV^SIA (for Wm. Fox-Strangways, English 

 botanist). Rosacese, tribe Pomese. Ornamental woody 

 plants grown for the handsome foliage and the attrac- 

 tive flowers and fruits. 



Evergreen trees or shrubs: Ivs. entire or serrate, with 

 subulate stipules: fls. white, in terminal many-fld. 

 corymbs; calyx turbinate, 5-toothed; petals 5, generally 

 obovate, clawed, stamens about 20; styles 5, connate to 

 the middle or higher; ovary 5-celled, the cells 2-ovuled: 

 fr. a small pome, crowned by the persistent incurved 

 calyx-teeth, the cells usually 1-seeded. Two or 3 

 species in China and Himalayas. These are handsome 

 evergreen small trees or shrubs with generally oblong 

 rather large or medium-sized lustrous Ivs. and small 

 white fls. with quickly deciduous petals in often ample 

 corymbs, followed by attractive red subglobose pea- 

 sized frs. They are suited for warmer temperate regions, 

 but S. Davidiana var. undulata seems to be hardier and 

 with protection survives the winter as far north as Mass. 

 Prop, is by seeds or by cuttings of half-ripened wood 

 under glass. 



Davidiana, Decne. (S. Henryi, Diels). Shrub, 4-^20 

 ft. : young branchlets silky-villous: Ivs. on slender hairy 

 petioles K-%in. long, oblong to oblong-lanceolate or 

 oblanceolate, acuminate, cuneate at the base, entire, 

 green and glabrous on both sides except pubescent on 

 the midrib above and often beneath, 2J^-4/^ m - long: 

 fls. white, 3^ m - across, in loose, more or less villous 

 corymbs 3-4 in. across; stamens about as long as petals, 

 with red anthers: fr. subglobose, scarlet, Ji~M m - 

 across. June. W. and Cent. China. Var. undulata, Rehd. 

 & Wilson (S. undulata, Decne.). Lvs. elliptic-oblong to 

 oblong-lanceolate, usually wavy on the margin, 1^-2J^ 

 in. long: corymbs 1^-3 in. across, sometimes nearly 

 glabrous. B.M. 8418. 



Nussia, Decne. (S. glaucescens, Lindl. S. glauca, 

 Baill.). Small tree: young branchlets like the inn. vil- 

 lous at first, soon glabrous: Ivs. obovate to oblanceolate, 

 short-acuminate, serrulate, 2-5 in. long: fls. white, ^in. 

 across, in corymbs 2-5 in. broad; stamens about half as 

 long as petals, with yellow anthers: fr. subglobose, 

 orange, J^in. thick. June. Himalayas. B.R. 1956. 



ALFRED REHDER. 



STRATIOTES (Greek, soldier, referring to the 

 sword-shaped leaves). Hydrocharitacese. WATER SOL- 

 DIER, or WATER ALOE. Perennial hardy aquatic herb 

 of small ornamental value but considerable botanical 

 interest: st. very short, stoloniferous: Ivs. clustered, all 

 sessile, submerged, linear-lanceolate, fleshy, acute, mar- 

 gin with many pointed teeth: scapes short or elon- 

 gated: spathes extending above the water, unisexual, 

 2-lvd.: fls. white; male fls. 2 to several in a spathe, 

 pedicelled, perianth 2-rowed, 3-merous; stamens 11-15; 

 pistils rudimentary or none; female fls. solitary in the 

 spathe, short-pedicelled, perianth similar to male; 

 staminodes many, linear; ovary oblong, somewhat 6- 

 celled: fr. on a recurved pedicel, laterally exserted from 

 the spathe, ovoid, acuminate. One species, Eu. The 

 plant has a distinct calyx which is not the rule among 

 monocotyledons. 



One of the peculiarities of stratiotes is that in sum- 

 mer the whole plant rises to a point near the surface 

 when it is only partly submerged, and later in the sea- 

 son it drops below the surface. Young plants do not act 

 thus. It is propagated by side shoots from the base of 

 the leaves. Toward fall and early winter these shoots 

 are merely bulblets and are readily detached from the 

 plant and are in a good condition for traveling. It is 

 not desirable for the aquarium on account of its spiny 

 leaves. (Wm. Tricker.) 



aloides, Linn., is the only species in the genus. It is 

 sometimes called CRAB'S CLAW or FRESHWATER 

 SOLDIER. In England the planting of this species is dis- 

 couraged from the fact that it spreads too rapidly. 

 Peduncles rising from among the Ivs. to a few inches 



above the water, much thickened at the top, bearing a 

 spathe of 2 bracts : ovary and stigmas nearly as in Hydro- 

 charis, but the fr. is ovoid and somewhat succulent. G. 

 2:466 - F. TRACY HUBBARD.! 



STRAWBERRY. The species of Fragaria, grown for 

 the fruit. (For the morphology of the strawberry fruit, 

 see Vol. I, page 40.) 



The strawberry is an herbaceous perennial. It natu- 

 rally propagates itself by means of runners that form 

 chiefly after the blooming season. Seedage is practised 

 only with the Alpines, and in raising new varieties. 

 Division of the crown is useful for propagating varieties 

 that are practically runnerless, as the Bush Alpine 

 and Pan-American. The runner plants, either trans- 

 planted or allowed to remain where they form, will 

 bear the following year. Usually the plants will con- 

 tinue to bear for five or six years, but the first and 

 second crops are generally the best. Good results are 

 sometimes secured from plants over ten years old, 

 especially when they are grown under hill training and 

 intensive culture, but this is a special practice. It is 

 therefore the custom to plow up strawberry beds after 



they have borne from 

 one to three crops. The 

 better the land and 

 the more intensive the 

 cultivation, the shorter 

 the rotation. In mar- 

 ket-gardening areas 

 and in some of the 

 very best strawberry 

 regions, the plants are 

 allowed to fruit but 

 once. The plants there- 

 fore occupy the land 

 only one year and 

 the crop works into 

 schemes of short-rota- 

 tion cropping. When 

 the bed is fruited more 

 than one year it should 

 be renewed immedi- 

 ately after the crop is 

 harvested. In the case 

 of matted or spaced 

 rows, this consists of 

 reducing the number 

 of old plants, using the 

 plow, disc-harrow, cul- 

 tivator, or hoe, and in 

 stirring the soil to pro- 

 vide favorable conditions for the rooting of new runners. 

 It is customary, also, to mow the leaves and burn them. 

 In the case of hill or hedge-row plants, renewal consists 

 of mowing and in drawing about an inch of fresh soil 

 around the plants, so that new roots will form above 

 the old ones. Throughout the North, and as far south 

 as Kentucky and Missouri, beds are fruited but one 

 year, occasionally two, rarely longer. In Florida and 

 the coastal plain of the Gulf states, the plants occupy 

 the ground but six to eight months. In the lower Mis- 

 sissippi Valley and on the Pacific coast, beds are fruited 

 three to six years. The strawberry delights in a rich 

 rather moist soil and a cool season. It can be grown in 

 the cool part of the year in the South and thereby 

 becomes one of the most cosmopolitan of fruits. The 

 young plants may be separated from the parent and 

 put into new plantations in August ; but under average 

 conditions in the North it is usually better to wait until 

 early the following spring, since the weather is likely 

 to be too hot and dry in the late summer or fall. South 

 of Virginia, Tennessee, and Arkansas, and on the Pacific 

 coast, most of the planting is done in the fall or 

 winter months. Plants that have not borne are best for 

 setting. They are plants of the season: that is, plants 



3714. Strawberry plant ready 

 for setting. 



