FRAGARIA 



FRAGRANT BALM 



605- 



FRAGARIA (Latin fragrare, fragrance, from the 

 smell of the fruit). Jfosacece. STRAWBERRY. A small 

 genus of low perennial herbs in the north temperate 

 zone and along the American Cordilleran region. The 

 Ivs. are palmately 3-foliolate and toothed, all from the 

 crown of the plant: fls. white or yellow, in corymbose 

 racemes on slender, leafless scapes, sometimes lacking 

 stamens ; calyx deeply 5-lobed and reinforced by 5 

 sepal-like bracts ; petals 5, obovate ; stamens many, 

 short ; pistils many, on a conical receptacle, becoming 

 small and hard akenes and persisting on the enlarging 

 receptacle. The enlarged receptacle becomes pulpy and 

 edible in the Strawberry, or Fragaria proper, but it re- 

 mains small in Duchesnea. See Figs. 826, 827. Fra- 

 garias propagate naturally by means of runners. 



The Fragarias are exceedingly variable. About 130 

 specific names have been applied to them, but there are 

 probably not more than a dozen forms which are dis- 

 tinct enough to be clearly distinguished as species. 

 Bentham and Hooker would reduce them all to three or 

 four species- Of the true Fragarias, four species-types 



861. Fragaria Virginiana. 



are interesting to the horticulturist as the parents of 

 the garden Strawberries, ^ 1 . Chiloensis, the original of 

 the ordinary cultivated Strawberries of America ; F. 

 Virginiana, which was early domesticated, and of which 

 some trace still remains in cultivated varieties; F.mos- 

 chata, the Hautbois, and F. vesca, the alpine and per- 

 petual Strawberries, which are little cultivated in this 

 country. Aside from these, the Indian Strawberry, or 

 Ducbesnea, is cultivated as a basket and rock plant. 

 For a sketch of the evolution of Strawberries, see Essay 

 25, Bailey's "Survival of the Unlike." The classical 

 work on Strawberries is Duchesne's "Histoire Naturelle 

 des Fraisiers." J766. See Strawberry. 



A. TRUE STRAWBERRIES, bearing an edible "berry" (or 



receptacle), and with a more or less upright habit: 

 fls. white. 



B. Lvs. normally overtopping the fls. and fr.: akenes 



mostly sunken in the flesh of the berry. 

 Chilo6nsis, Duchesne. Fig. 859. Low, but stout in all 

 its parts: Ivs. thick, more or less glossy above, bluish 



white below, blunt-toothed : fl. -clusters forking and 

 long-rayed, the peduncle short, soon lopping on the 

 ground : runners mostly appearing after the fruit is 

 gone: berry large and firm, dark-colored, more or less 

 musky in flavor, reinforced by a very large calyx or 

 hull. Pacific coast region of S. Amer. A common wild 

 Strawberry of the Pacific slope of N. Amer. is referred 

 to this species, but it is a question whether it is identi- 

 cal with the S. American form. 



Var. ananassa, Hort. (F. anandssa, F. tincta, F. 

 calyculata, Duchesne. F. grandiflora, Ehrh.). PINE, 

 STRAWBERRY. COMMON GARDEN STRAWBERRY. Taller- 

 growing: Ivs. larger and thinner, mostly lighter green 

 on both sides: fr. larger, running into very many kinds. 



Virginiana, Duchesne (F. Iowe"nsis and F. Illinotn- 

 sis, Prince). SCARLET or VIRGINIAN STRAWBERRY. 

 Figs. 860, 861, 862. More slender: Ivs. thinner, light, 

 green above and below, the upper surface with sunken 

 veins: fl.-clusters small, with a few hanging fruits at 

 the top of a rather long peduncle : runners usually ap- 

 pearing with the fruit: berry 

 small, light scarlet, globular or 

 oblong-conical, usually with a 

 constriction or neck underneath 

 the moderate-sized calyx or 

 hull. E. North Amer. Vari- 

 able. The larger and more hairy 

 forms have been separated as 

 var. Illinoensis, Gray, but it is 

 difficult to define them from the 

 type; and the same is true of 

 the boreal forms, which have 

 been detached as F. Canaden- 

 sis, Michx. A few early varie- 

 ties of Strawberries, as Crystal 

 City, seem to be wholly or 

 partly of F. Virginiana origin. 



BB. Lvs. normally shorter than 

 the fl.-clusters: akenes 

 usually not sunken in the 

 flesh of the berry. 

 vesca, Linn. (F. semper fld- 



rens, Duchesne). ALPINE and 



PERPETUAL STRAWBERRIES. 



Erect and dark green, only 



sparsely hairy, the Ivs. thin and light green as com- 

 pared with the foregoing species, very sharp-toothed : 

 fl. -cluster small, forking, erect : berry firm, small, 

 usually oblong-conical, the akenes very prominent ; 

 hull spreading. Eu. The American representative of' 

 this species common in woods N. is thought by some 

 to be a distinct species, and it has received the name 

 F. Americana, Britt. ; but it is doubtful if it can be 

 separated. See Figs. 863, 864. The true F. vesca is 

 thought to be sparingly naturalized eastward. The- 

 native plant often bears white fruit. The cult, forms 

 are rarely seen in this country, but the quality is high, 

 and they are deserving of more attention in home- 

 grounds. Variable in cult. There is a form with leaflets 

 reduced to one (F. monophylla, Duchesne, B.M. 63). 

 This type of Strawberry bears more continuously than. 

 F. Chiloensis and F. Virginiana. The so-called Mexi- 

 can or Everbearing Strawberry which has been intro- 

 duced at times is F. Mexicana, Schlecht., which is an- 

 other form of the vescan type. On the Pacific slope, the 

 type possibly may be represented by F. Californica, 

 Cham. & Schlecht. 



moschata, Duchesne (F. eldtior, Ehrh.). HAUTBOIS. 

 Taller, usually dioscious, more pubescent, the calyx or- 

 hull strongly reflexed from the fruit: berry dull red,, 

 musky. Eu. Cult, forms rarely seen in Amer. 



AA- DUCHESNE A. Receptacle less fleshy, tasteless: habit 

 trailing: fls. yellow. 



Indica, Andr. Neat trailing plant with small obovate- 

 crenate-dentate leaflets, solitary long-pedicelled fls.,. 

 and calyx bracts toothed. India. Naturalized E. Very- 

 useful as a basket trailer. L H. B. 



FRAGRANT BALM. Monarda didy t ma,. 



. Fruit of Fragaria 

 Virginiana. Nat. size. 



