EARLY SUMMER FLOWERS 167 



season, and has produced the rosette of leaves we see. This 

 shoot will end in the inflorescence of next year, which will be 

 already formed before autumn although it will only grow to its 

 full size after the leaves have withered and decayed. The under- 

 ground stem of the Wild Strawberry is thus really made up of a 

 succession of lateral shoots, and the mode of growth of the plant 

 may be instructively compared with that of the Primrose. 



The foliage-leaves are attached to the stem by a wide, sheath- 

 ing base, to either side of which is joined a pointed, membranous 

 stipule. These stipules never become leaf -like in appearance, but 

 turn brown and, together with the leaf bases, remain after the 

 leaf has fallen. It is the persistent stipules of the leaves of former 

 years that give the scaly covering to the underground stem. 

 Above the leaf-base comes a long and almost cylindrical leaf-stalk, 

 which is often reddish and is covered with soft whitish hairs 

 standing out from the surface. The leaf-stalk continues into the 

 midrib of a leaflet, and to either side below this is a lateral leaflet. 

 The leaf-blade is thus branched, consisting of three oval green 

 leaflets with toothed edges. 



As usual a bud is formed in the axil of each leaf. Those in the 

 axils of some of the lower leaves straightway develop, not into 

 leafy branches but into special shoots which are familiar as the 

 " runners " of the Strawberry. The runner has greatly extended 

 internodes, which are more or less red in colour and are hairy. It 

 bears reduced scale-leaves at the nodes. Usually the bud in the 

 axil of the first scale-leaf does not develop, but that in the axil of 

 the second leaf grows into a leafy shoot, while from the node 

 and the base of the shoot roots spring which attach the latter 

 to the soil and ensure a direct supply of water and food-salts. 

 The runner may continue its growth and start new shoots similar 

 to the first. Owing to the length of the thin regions of the runner 

 between them and the parent plant the new shoots are rooted 

 at a distance from the latter and from one another. When 

 they become separated from the parent by the decay of the 

 runner they are already fixed in the soil, and established as 

 independent plants. A little study of the growth of a strong 

 Wild Strawberry plant on a bank which is not too thickly popul- 

 ated by other plants will show what an efficient method of 



