STRAWBERRY. RASPBERRY.MELONS. 137 



plant with a very short stem ; almost all the leaves are radical, 

 and ordinarily consist of three leaflets borne on a long petiole ; 

 the collum of the root gives rise to slender, long, repent shoots, 

 which take root, from point to point, put forth leaves, and thus 

 form new stems ; from the midst of these leaves rise two or three 

 simple, slender sterns, which bear on their summit from four to 

 six white flowers. The red, fleshy body which succeeds the 

 flower, and known under the name of strawberry, is commonly 

 taken for the fruit of this plant, but is nothing but a prolongation 

 of the common support of the seeds, which becomes succulent 

 and very much developed ; the true fruit, that is, the seeds and 

 their envelope, adhere to its surface. This plant grows through- 

 out Europe, and in most places in North and South America. 



113. Raspberries Rubus idceus which have nearly the 

 same structure as the strawberry, are furnished by a shrub of 

 the genus of bramble, which belongs to the family of Rosa'ceax 

 Botanists call the raspberry the bramble of Mount Ida, because 

 it grows wild on that mountain, but it is also originally from the 

 northern regions of Europe and America ; it delights in a light 

 and somewhat shaded soil. Its root is a ligneous stock which 

 produces several straight stems armed with numerous fine thorns; 

 its flowers are white, quite small, and borne on slender peduncles. 

 Its fruit is composed of many small monospermous berries slightly 

 attached to each other, and placed round a conical, fleshy sup- 

 port. The dewberry Rubus ccesius yields a fruit of similar 

 character, but it is without the taste and perfume of the rasp- 

 berry. 



114. The FAMILY OF CUCURBITA'CE^E belongs to the same 

 class as the preceding, and is composed of large herbaceous 

 plants, the fruit of which is a pepo. The pulpy matter found in 

 the fruit of most of the plants of this family is wholesome and 

 often very nutritious. The melon or cantaloupe, so much prized 

 as a dessert fruit, is obtained from the Cu'cumis melo ; the com- 

 mon cucumber is the fruit of the Cu'cumis sativus. Besides 

 these, we have the water-melon Cu'cumis citrullus and the 

 squash-gourd, &c. The FAMILY OF MYRTIA'CE^E or MYRT.E, 

 and several others also take their place in the division of polype- 

 talous dicotyledons. 



113. What are raspberries ? 



114. What are the characters of the Cucurbita'ces ? 



