94 FUnvcrs and their Pedigrees. 



colour arc produced in the outer coat of the httlc nut- 

 lets themselves, and the receptacle assumes the form 

 of the hull, which we pull out t)f the fruit and throw 

 away. In the plum, there is only one sucli lx:rry, 

 inclosing a sin*;lc seed. Hut in the strawbcrrj', the 

 se|)arate fruits remain always hard and dry, and it is 

 only the receptacle which holds them that swells out 

 into the bright-coloured and juicy edible portion. 



It very seldom happens, however, that a plant 

 which has diverged from another in one point remains 

 constant in all other points. In the strawberr)* this 

 is almost the case, for it hardly differs at all in any 

 particular, save its fruit, from its ancestor, the white 

 potcntilla ; and that is good evidence, it seems to mc, 

 that the two plants cannot very long have separated 

 from one another. Vet even here there are a few 

 inconspicuous lateral differences. Most notable of 

 these are the variations in the flower. Though to a 

 casual observer the two blossoins l(X)k almost identical, 

 and the plants can only readily be identified when in 

 fruit, a botanical eye has never any difificulty in dis- 

 tinguishing the one from the other. The petals of the 

 barren strawberr}' arc usually short and narrow, the 

 flowers scarcely ojx^n into more than a cup shape, 

 and there is a good deal of )ellowish or reddish 

 colour about the receptacle and the base of the 



