132 THE STRAWBERRY 
Now look at the row of horizontal sections and see 
if there are any lines in them. How do these 
lines run? 
13. Eat a strawberry. First mash it just a little in 
your mouth with your tongue. Is it sweet? 
Now chew it up. Is it still just as sweet as at 
first? When you chew the berry can you feel 
the little seeds breaking? Are they hard or 
soft ? 
How nearly did you guess right about the inside of 
the berry when you listened to the pinch-sound? 
Information 
The strawberry grows on a little plant like the one you see in 
the plate. Its leaves have three parts and the edges are saw- 
toothed. 
The flowers are of a beautiful creamy white and have five 
petals. 
In the middle of the flower are a great many yellow stamens 
around a green center. This green center is the young straw- 
berry, which at first seems to be nothing but a patch.of green 
seeds. 
A few days after the bud has blossomed the petals fall off, and 
then the berry begins to grow. It is green for a long time, then 
it becomes yellowish, then pink, and finally red. The red is 
sometimes very light and sometimes very dark, depending on the 
ripeness and the variety of the berry. 
