276 THE STEAWBEKRY-TREE. 



indeed, Pliny intimates that the produce of the tree varies, 

 and Sir James Smith tells us that in the Levant it is 

 agreeable and wholesome. 



The Arbutus is an evergreen shrub, with a scaly stem, 

 and with dark green, glossy leaves, smaller than those of 

 the Laurel, and serrated at the edge. The flowers grow 

 in clusters on stalks bent downwards : they are nearly 

 globular in shape, very elegant, of a greenish semi-trans- 

 parent white, with a tinge of red. They expand in Sep- 

 tember and October, and, as they contain a great deal of 

 honey, are frequented by numbers of the later butterflies 

 and moths, wild bees, and wasps. The fruit, which takes 

 a year to perfect itself, begins to ripen when the flowers 

 expand : it is of the size of a cherry, and very like a straw- 

 berry, being covered with hard tubercles formed by the 

 seeds, which are, however, not simply half-imbedded in 

 the berry, like the seeds of the strawberry, but concealed 

 beneath the cuticle. It is most beautiful at the fall of the 

 year, when its waxy flowers and scarlet berries present a 

 very cheerful appearance. 



A sugar and a very good spirit have been extracted from 

 the berry, and the leaves, it is said, may be employed with 

 advantage in tanning. The wood is of little value, but at 

 Killarney is manufactured into boxes and toys, which are 

 sold to visitors : it is of a dull brown tmt, and marked 

 with fine lines, which are of a yet darker hue. 



A variety is cultivated which has red flowers, but it is 

 scarcely more beautiful than the common kind. 



