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AMERICAN FORESTRY 



OUR COMMON WILD STRAWBERRY {Fragaria virginiana) 

 Fig. 11. Most people are under the impression that the strawberry gets its 

 vernacular name from straw being placed beneath the berries while they 

 are^ ripening, to keep them clean; but this is erroneous. The term is 

 derived from early Anglo-Saxon, and subsequently a later term, "stra- 

 berry," was applied, referring to its straying runners. 



abundant supply of nectar yielded by the flowers. 



During these late spring and summer days, as we ram- 

 ble through the woods and fields in search of flowers and 

 other interesting things, we frequently meet with a speci- 

 men of the common box tortoise (Cistudo Carolina), of 

 which reptile a picture is here given, from life, in Figure 

 8. This specimen was a very handsome old male, with a 

 yellowish black shell, beautifully marked with bright 

 orange spots; his head was similarly speckled. This 

 species lays ellipsoidal, white eggs, and the. young are 

 very lovely little creatures. We occasionally find them 

 toddling along at a very slow pace down some wood path 

 or other. One of the most- remarkable things to be ob- 

 served about this Carolina land tortoise is the great varia- 

 tion of its color pattern and in the color itself. The 

 blacks, browns, and yellows of many shades are most 

 irregularly distributed in the various specimens. Old 

 ones are often very light in color, running almost to 

 whitish-yellow; some of these patterns are well shown 

 in Figure 9. We usually have no trouble in distinguish- 

 ing the male from the female, as in the case of the former 

 the shell underneath (plastron) is more or less concave. 

 We have several species of these land tortoises, while 

 the one here described is the common eastern one. 



Coming back to the swampy places, especially in the 



open, wet woods along the river bank, we may find a 

 fine specimen of the "Star of Bethlehem" (Fig. 10). 

 Mathews says it is "found most often in fields and 

 meadows, near, farm houses." So, as it is a garden 

 escape, having been introduced from Europe, we may 

 meet with it almost anywhere. Its linear, dark green 

 leaves grow in a tuft-like rosette close to the ground, 

 while its flowers grow well above these, each on a single, 

 slender stalk. They are of a glistening white, green-lined 

 outside, the buds appearing to be green and white striped. 

 Some of the latter show in the illustrations, with many 

 of the blossoms fully opened. So, taken all in all, the 

 elegant Star of Bethlehem forms a very striking display 

 wherever it happens to grow, particularly so if we come 

 across it in the deeply shaded woods, along the banks of 

 some river, as was the case with the plant here shown, 

 which grew on the Maryland side of the Potomac, at 

 Great Falls, where stone crop and other plants were also 

 in full bloom at the same time. 



Then, as we pass out into the open country again, into 

 the old fields and pastures, there are many more flowers 

 to greet us, among them the charming, wild strawberry 

 (Fig. 11). So well are these known that descriptions of 

 their leaves, flowers, roots, or runners would be quite 

 superfluous. All are well shown in the illustration, ex- 

 cept, to be sure, the fruit, which everybody knows. It 

 may not be generally known, however, that we have sev- 

 eral species of wild strawberries in this country. We have, 

 for example, the American wood strawberry (Fragaria 

 americana) , which is an abundant species in open, rocky 

 woods from New England, New Jersey, and Pennsyl- 



THE BEAUTIFUL LEAVES OF WILD GINGER 

 Fig 12. Our Birthwort family (Aristolochiaceae) contains but two genera 

 of plants in the Middle Atlantic States namely, Wild Ginger and Birth- 

 wort, and no common plant of our rich woods possesses a more lovely 

 leaf than the Wild Ginger ( Asarum virginicum). It is round heart-shaped, 

 or broadly reniform, and it has a truly wonderful soft, silky feel, once 

 felt is not likely to be forgotten. 



