IRose jfamil^. 



Wild Strawberry. Fragaria Virginicma. 



Found during May and June in pastures, and fields, and copse- 

 borders. 



The leaf and flower stems, from 6 to 8 inches high, spring from the 

 root, with dry sheaths enclosing them at the ground. 



The leaf is compound, the 3 leaflets wedge-shaped ; the margin is 

 deeply toothed, and the many ribs show plainly ; loose of texture, and 

 roughened underneath with hairs. In color a rich strong green, paler 

 beneath, sometimes reddish, or pink. The stem is hairy ; green, and 

 reddish near the foot. 



The flower has 5 rounded petals with pointed bases ; its texture is 

 thin ; pure white in color ; the stamens many and orange-yellow. The 

 petals are set daintily around the base of the little green cone, that 

 later becomes the berry, showing the 5 broad divisions of the calyx 

 between ; just beneath the calyx, and alternate with its tips, occur 5 

 narrow bracts which lie so tightly underneath as to appear to belong 

 to it. The flowers, on short foot-stems, are placed in groups on 

 larger leafy stems, these forming a loose terminal cluster set on the 

 hairy stem which rises from the roots. 



After the petals fall, the calyx turns up its tips to protect the fruit, 

 which droops, as it reddens and becomes pulpy. The young leaf, as it 

 rises from the ground, is close-folded like a delightful little green fan ; 

 the first leaves often lie flat upon the ground, and are rusty in color. 

 The Strawberry has a pleasant way of bursting into a flurry of bloom 

 late in August ; along wood-paths and unfrequented lanes one comes 

 upon it as a belated bit of spring. He who has smelled the exquisite 

 fragrance of the field strawberry fruit will not soon forget its wild charm. 



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