

F R A 



Polifgynia, and ranks in th 



Son' icosa-. 



The characters a- e : chal I n . . .-. is at: one- 

 leaved, flat, ten-cleft periantluu n : divisions 

 al rnately scterioi and narrower; th e coraBa 

 ha? five petals, roundish, spreading, inserted 

 into the calyx : the stamina have twenty subu- 

 late filaments, shorter than the corolla, inserted 

 into the calyx: anthers lunular: the pistillum 

 has numerous germs, very small, collected into 

 a head : styles simple, inserted at the side of 

 the germ : stigmas simple : there is no pericar- 

 pium : common receptacle of the seeds (vul- 

 garly called a berry) ovate, pulpy, soft, large, 

 coloured, truncate at the base, and deciduous : 

 the seeds numerous, very small, acuminate, 

 scattered over the surface of the receptacle (a 

 little compressed, smooth, glittering). 



The species cultivated is F. vesca, Esculent 

 Strawberry. 



It is distinguished by its thick fibrous root, 

 the long slender runners which it throws outfrom 

 it, which at the joints strike root and form new 

 plants, by its ternate leaves, and its remark- 

 able fleshy receptacle, commonly called a- berry, 

 but having the outer surface studded with seeds. 

 The flowers are small and white, on slender 

 stems, six or seven inches in height. 



There are several varieties cultivated, of which 

 the following are the principal. 



The Wood- Strawberry, which has the leaflets 

 oval-lanceolate, acutely serrate ; the petioles 

 wooly ; the runners slender, smooth, often 

 tinged with purple : peduncles with two or 

 more flowers. The fruit small, and usually red : 

 it has commonly little flavour here, from the 

 plants being too much shaded in woods and 

 hedges- 



The sub-varieties of which are : the White 

 Wood- Strawberry, which ripens a little later in 

 the season, and is often preferred to it for its 

 quick flavour, but as it seldom produces such 

 large crops of fruit as the red sort, it is not so 

 generally cultivated. — The Alpine Strawberry, 

 which is a larger plant than that which grows in 

 woods, the stem higher, the leaves broader, the fruit 

 larger, red, and usuallymuch pointed, sometimes 

 white. It is well flavoured, and the plants continue 

 long in bearing, which renders them very valuable. 

 The reason of this is, that the runners which it 

 throws out during the summer shoot up into 

 flower and fruit the same year more freely than 

 in the other sorts. It is sometimes termed Ever- 

 lasting Strawberry. — The Rough -fruited or 

 Prickly Strawberry, which JMartvn thinks no- 

 thing but an accidtn al variety, has the flower 

 greenish ; the fruit harsh, rough and prickly, of 

 a grecnisii colour with some show of redness. 



The 11:" b y >craub,-rry is very different 

 ir m t'.,e rest in teaf^ Sower, anl fruit The 

 leaves arc larger, thicker, faairyish, and rough. 

 The inut vi ry large, and of a pale red colour. 

 It varies with oval, pine-shaped, and green fruit; 

 with red blossohr, with white striped leaves, and 

 with yellow striped leaves. 



There is also an improved sub-variety of it, 

 called Giok Hui/lbny ; the fruit of which is 

 longer, and of a globular form. Martyn observes 

 that " where these aie neglected, they degene- 

 rate to the Common Hautboy; but where the 

 sou is good, and the culture well managed, the 

 plants wili produce a great quantity of large 

 well-flavoured fruit." 



This variety of Strawberry is very apt to de- 

 generate, and to produce only dry effete fruit ; 

 which, according to Mons. Duhamel, is owing 

 to there being two sorts of plants, one bearing 

 male, the other female or rather imperfect her- 

 maphrodite (lowers, the former of which, being 

 reputed useless, are carefully destroyed ; hence 

 not only the seeds become abortive, but the re- 

 ceptacle, commonly called the fruit, small and 

 juiceless. This Martyn thinks " may be reme- 

 died, either by planting a few of the male plants, 

 or of the Scarlet or Pine Strawberry among the 

 Hautboys." 



The Chili Strawberry has the leaves hairy, 

 oval, and of a much thicker substance than any 

 sort yet known, and stands upon very strong 

 hairy foot-stalks; the runners from the plants 

 are very large, hairy, and extend to a great 

 length, putting out plants at several distances. 

 The peduncles are very strong; the leaves of 

 the calyx long and hairy. The flowers are 

 large, and often deformed ; and so is the fruit, 

 which is very large. When cultivated in very 

 strong land, the plants produce plenty of firm 

 well-flavoured fruit; but as it is a bad bearer in 

 most places, it has been lately less cultivated. 



According to Frezier, the fruit usually attains 

 the size of a walnut, but is sometimes as large 

 as an egg, of a paler red than the European 

 Strawberry, and not so quick in its flavour. It 

 deserves cultivation for the singularity and size 

 of the fruit. 



It varies with round pale red, with globular 

 pale red, with oblong-oval pale red, and deep 

 red fruit. There is also Carolina scarlet and 

 white fruited ; Royal large red ; Large Dutch, 

 Bath, and Devonshire Chili Strawberry. 



The Scarlet Strawberry, which is- the sort 

 first ripe. — The fruit is good, being preferred to 

 most others by many. It was brought from 

 Virginia, where it grows naturally in the woods. 

 It is very different from the Wood-Strawberry, 

 in leaf, flower, and fruit. The leaves being of 



