tinguishing feature. The fruits are little 

 ovoid berries. [A. A. BJ 



FOVILLA. The imaginary fluid or ema- 

 nation which it was formerly thought that 

 the pollen discharged when performing 

 the act of fertilisation. The fluid actually 

 contained in the pollen-grain. 



FOXBANE. Aconitum Vulparia. 



FOX-CHOP. Mesembryanthemum vul- 

 pinvmi. 



FOXGLOVE. Digitalis. — , DOWNY 

 FALSE. An American name for Gerardia 

 flava. — , LADIES'. Verbascum Tliapsus. 



FOX-GRAPE. Vitis vulpina, Labrusca, 

 &c. 



FOX-TAIL. Lycopodium clafatum. 



FRACID. Of a pasty texture ; between 

 fleshy and pulpy. 



FRAGARIA. A genus of Rosacea, dis- 

 tinguished by its ten-cleft calyx, its Ave 

 petals, and its seeds inserted on a fleshy 

 receptacle. This fleshy receptacle is the 

 fruit known as the Strawberry. The name 

 Fragaria is derived from fragrans — the 

 fruit, as is well known, being peculiarly per- 

 fumed. The common name of Strawberry 

 has been given, according to Sir Joseph 

 Banks and others, on account of straw 

 having been laid to prevent the fruit from 

 getting soiled in wet weather. 



There are several species, of which the 

 principal are, F. vesca, to which belong 

 the wood and Alpine varieties ; F. viridis, 

 the green ; F. elatior, the Hautbois ; F. 

 virginiana, the Virginian or scarlet; F. 

 gravdiflora, the pine ; and F. chilensis, 

 the Chilian strawberry. 



Previous to 1629, the date assigned to 

 the introduction of the Scarlet Strawberry 

 from Virginia, the Wood Strawberry must 

 have been the sort generally gathered for 

 sale in this country. 'Strabery ripe,' to- 

 gether with 'Gode Peascode,' and 'Cherrys 

 in the ryse,' were mentioned as some of 

 the London cries by Lidgate in a poem 

 which he wrote, probably 400 years ago, or 

 nearly, for he died in 1483. Peas must 

 have been then cultivated for sale ; straw- 

 berries may have been partially so, or they 

 may have been chiefly gathered for the 

 purpose where found growing in their 

 wild state. But Hollinshed mentions the 

 fact that Gloucester asked the Bishop of 

 Ely for strawberries when contemplating 

 the death of Hastings ; and the circum- 

 stance has been dramatised by Shakes- 

 peare :— 



'My lord of Ely, when I was last in 

 Holborn, 



I saw good strawberries in your garden 



there.' 

 The palace and garden of the Bishop were 

 situated in that part of London now called 

 Ely Place ; and the giwnds sloping to the 

 then open stream or rivulet of Holborn 

 must have been well adapted for the growth 

 of strawberries. 

 The green strawberry is a European 



plant, but rarely met with. The fruit is 

 small, very abundant, roundish ; the flesh 

 has a greenish tinge, solid, and juicy ;and 

 having somewhat of the pineapple flavour, 

 something good might result from cross- 

 ing it with other sorts. 



The Hautbois is a native of England and 

 the continent of Europe. It has not been 

 found in a wild state so plentifully as the 

 Wood or Alpine kinds. The cultivated 

 varieties of this species sometimes bear 

 most abundant crops ; occasionally, how- 

 ever, the plants only produce sterile flowers, 

 yet perhaps in another season the same 

 plants again bear profusely, sterility being 

 induced by circumstances which occasion 

 a too rapid development of the parts of 

 fructification, and their consequent im- 

 perfection. This led to the supposition that 

 the Strawberry was a dioecious plant ; but 

 it is not so, for the rudiments of stamens 

 and pistils, more or less perfect, can 

 always be detected. The Hautbois have 

 plicated, rugose leaves, and the fruit has a 

 musky flavour, which many persons greatly 

 prefer. 



The Virginian or Scarlet Strawberry 

 has many varieties, of various forms, 

 round, conical, and oblong, some of them 

 sugary and mild, but most of the scarlets 

 have a brisk acidity. The Old Scarlet still 

 ranks amongst the earliest ripening sorts. 

 Although it was almost the only scarlet 

 known for nearly 200 years after its intro- 

 duction, and a shy bearer, no attempts to 

 change it by crossing appear to have been 

 made till within the last fifty years. By 

 accident some good varieties of it were 

 obtained ; now, by artificial crossing, they 

 are exceedingly numerous. They cross 

 readily amongst themselves, and likewise 

 with the pines. 



The Pine Strawberries have generally 

 large flowers and fruit, with foliage of a 

 darker green and thicker substance than 

 that of the scarlets, and the leaves are 

 not so sharply serrated. According to 

 some authorities, the species is a native of 

 Surinam, but the true Old Pine was doubt- 

 less obtained from Carolina. This sort is 

 very much superior to many formerly cul- 

 tivated under the denomination of Pine 

 Strawberries, and which, although most 

 abundant bearers, have been abandoned 

 for new sorts that are both prolific and 

 good in quality. Still, as regards richness 

 of flavour, the true Old Pine or Carolina 

 maintains its high character. Instead of 

 being hollow and spongy, it is solid and 

 juicy— so much so, that a basket of it may 

 be detected among other sorts by its 

 greater weight. 



The Chili Strawberry is, as its name im- 

 plies, a native of Chili ; but Prof. Decaisne, 

 in his splendid work, the Jardin Fruitier 

 du Musee, states that it is not confined 

 to that part of South America, but has 

 also been found on the western coast of 

 North America, in California, and Oregon. 

 The whole plant is covered with silky 

 hairs, those on the scapes and peduncles 

 spreading horizontally. It is of vigorous 

 growth where the climate is suitable for it ; 



