A CLUSTER OF BERRIES 147 



shade Family) or the mandrake of the ancients, and the 

 May Apple is the only species of the genus. It is also 

 poisonous by report, so far as the plant itself is concerned, 

 but the root is used medicinally, though too violent in nature 

 to be safe except under medical direction. The fruit is 

 not poisonous, however, and "may be eaten freely with 

 impunity " (Wood and Bache). It deserves to be ex- 

 perimented with further, its flavour being delicious for 

 marmalades. 



THE CHECKERBERRY 



The names: Checkerberry, Boxberry, Partridge Berry, 

 or Wintergreen, are familiarly applied to two different 

 berries, one the Gaultheria, of the Heath Family, the other 

 the Mitchella repens, or Winter Clover, of the Madder 

 Family. It is the former from which is distilled the oil of 

 wintergreen and whose berries are so enticingly gay and 

 spicy. The flowers of the Mitchella are pretty and scented 

 but the berries, though edible and keeping all through 

 the winter, become dry and tasteless. They possess 

 medicinal virtues in being tonic and soothing and have 

 been used in dropsy and other troubles. 



THE WINTER CHERRY 



The Winter Cherry, or Physalis, although of the Night- 

 shade Family (Solanacecs) is one of most picturesque of 

 real food berries, a sweet, succulent morsel of yellow, green, 

 purple, or red, hiding away in a dainty green or yellow nest, 

 unsuspected by those unfamiliar with it. This Ground or 

 Winter Cherry is a friendly little thing, making open over- 

 tures to cultivation, running wild by inherited habit but often 

 entering gardens of its own accord and remaining, when 

 encouraged,, as a permanent resident. There are numerous 

 species,, among them the Alkekengi, or "Strawberry To^ 

 mato," or "Love Apple," and the "Peruvian Gooseberry," 



