THE ARBUTUS. 387 
most conspicuous winter mark of recognition is 
its globular scarlet fruit, with a granular surface, 
somewhat resembling the strawberry—the gra- 
nules, however, instead of protruding, like those in 
the strawberry, being buried under the cuticle of 
the fruit. But, unlike the luscious strawberry, the 
Arbutus berries wear their scarlet hues late in the 
year, and hence the name of ‘ winter strawberries,’ 
sometimes applied to them. The flowers are 
white, deep, and vase-shaped, and hang in racemes 
from the twigs. The succeeding fruit attains the 
size of cherries. To the taste it is insipid, and 
rarely eaten, although it is believed that its 
flavour, like that of fruit in general, very much 
depends upon the soil in which it is found, and 
upon other conditions of growth. In its wild state, 
in the neighbourhood of Killarney, where it grows 
abundantly on the hills and rocks, the fruit is 
eaten by the country people, who doubtless find 
it more pleasant than the berry of the cultivated 
plant. 
Of the uses of the Strawberry-Tree—except 
those which consist in being beautiful—it is im- 
possible to make a long list. The wood is dark 
