311 
FraGArta CHILENSIS OR GRANDIFLORAW—The Chilian  straw- 
berry, also a native of America, from Oregon to Chili. Calyx erect, 
slightly spreading, seeds set in a shallow depression. Flowers larger 
than in other species. Fruit sweet, perfumed, firm. Flower stalks 
shorter than the leaves- When first introduced, it did not find favour, 
as the blossoms are not self-fertile. This defect has been got over 
by crossing with the Virginian strawberry. 
BoranicaL Srructure.—The strawberry is described as a 
genus of perennial herb, belonging to the general order Rosaceae. 
It has trifoliated leaves, flat or reflexed, creeping stolons or runners, 
flowers white or yellow. The petals of the flowers are disposed 
around the more or less enlarged receptacles of the flower stalk. 
The strawberry is not a fruit in the true sense of the word, but an 
exaggerated fleshy receptacle of the flower stalk, in which are em- 
bedded a number of small, hard, seed-like bodies, which are the true 
fruits. As the swollen, fleshy receptacles grow in size and mature 
they become coloured, juicy, and flavoured. In a strictly botanical 
sense, therefore, the strawberries are neither berries nor fruit any 
more than turnips or potatoes are roots. 
Naturally the strawberry flower possesses stamens or male 
organs and pistils or female organs. It is, therefore, perfect, as both 
these organs are necessary for the production of fruit. This is so 
in the wild state. Under the influence of cultivation, however, or 
when transplanted amid surroundings which are foreign to its primi- 
tive habitat, the strawberry, like a great many other plants, may 
become subject to structural alterations which deeply modify its 
sexuality. 
The figures show two types of flowers: the “bi-sexual” or self- 
fertile flowers and the “pistillate” or imperfect flower. 
Both possess petals; in the perfect or bi-sexual blossom, and 
around the convex core which, when developed, constitutes the 
strawberry are two sets of organs, viz.: the 
female organs or pistils (p) in the centre, and 
around them the male organs or stamens (s). 
In perfect blossoms, these stamens are equal 
in length, or longer than the pistils, and they 
are then able, when the anthers or seed-sacs 
which surmount each of them, are ready to 
burst, to shed the grains of pollen on the 
stigma or receptive end of the pistil, a tubu- 
lar organ down which they travel to the Bi-sexual. 
ovary, where pollenation or impregnation 
takes place. 
The imperfect flowers on the other hand, or “Pistillate,” only 
possess the female organ (p), the stamens being either absent or 
diminutive in size, or else reflexed. Such flower, to produce fruit, 
