WOOD STRAWBERRY.— i^my^/vV^ vesca. 



Class IcosANDRiA. Oi'dcr Polygynia. Nat. Ord. Rosacea. 

 Rose Tribe. 



The Strawberry is to be found in most of 

 the woods and thickets of our island, and its 

 white blossom is among the flowers of May 

 and the two following months. As early as 

 March, however, we may gather a plant so 

 similar to it, both in flower and leaf, that only 

 a botanist would mark the difiference between 

 them. This is the Barren Straw^berry {Pofeji- 

 iilla Fra^ariasirum), Avhicli grows on woods, 

 banks, and dry pastures. Unlike our Avild 

 Strawberry flower, however, it is succeeded by 

 no rich fruit. Our native fruits are few, and 

 the Strawberry is the best and sweetest of 

 them all, and indeed is unrivalled, for its 

 wholesome qualities, by any fruit either wild 

 or cultivated. Country children well know 

 its worth, but the larger Strawberries reared 

 in gardens are so much more in use for 

 desserts, that the wild species is rarely sold in 

 towns. In France, Strawberries are used not 

 only, as with us, as a fruit for the table and 

 for preserves, but for making an agreeable 



