374 



FLORA AND SYLVA. 



are carried in profusion. The best of 

 them (for their quality is variable) are 

 sometimes eaten by the peasants, but are 

 insipid and seedy; a more common use 

 is the making of a poor wine much drunk 

 in Corsica, or a preserve eaten as a relish 

 with mutton. The wood of the Arbutus 

 is hard and knotted, dark red within, but 

 seldom straight enough to be of much 

 value ; not infrequently the trunk is 

 strangely turned in spiral. Being easy to 

 work, of good colour, and handsome 

 when polished, it is sometimes used in 

 turning small objects, but is oftener 

 made into a charcoal of good quality; in 

 the East its bark is still usedfor tanning. 



The Strawberry Tree is easily raised 

 from seed,which should be washed clear 

 of the pulp, dried, and sown in pans in 

 the following spring ; the varieties are 

 commonly increased by grafting or in- 

 arching upon the common kind. Young 

 plants should have some protection from j 

 frost and cold winds until well estab- 

 lished, an open sunny spotat all times to 

 ensure well ripened shoots and perfect 

 drainage — being impatient of stagnant 

 moisture at the root. Beside the hardy 

 kinds there are several tender species, 

 but they are rarely found in other than 

 botanical gardens .The principal species 

 and their varieties are as follows : — 



The Grecian Strawberry Tree {A. An- 

 drachne) . — This kind is rare in English gardens 

 though perhaps the hardiest of the group, and 

 handsome when full grown, thriving well, too, 

 in Ireland and the West country. It is found 

 from Greece throughout Asia Minor and the 

 Levant, and was first brought to England so 

 long ago as 1 724. It is finer than the common 

 kind when mature, its beauty being increased 

 by the rich red colourof itsbark,which peels off 

 each year in thin layers. Its leaves are broader 

 and more rounded in outline than those of A. 



Unedo,and nearly smooth at the edges; the fruit 

 also is more oval, but the flowers are alike save 

 for their larger clusters, and borne from winter 

 to early spring. There is a variety serratifolia, 

 inwhich theflowers are yellowish, ratherlarger, 

 and borne in longer clusters; the leaves, too, are 

 dented, and narrower than in the common 

 Grecian form. 



The Canary Islands Strawberry Tree 

 [A. canariensis). — This is a handsome but 

 tender species, known as the Madrona of the 

 Canaries, and sometimes grown in English 

 greenhouses. It bears heavy clusters of flowers, 

 of a pale green, but not until April or May, 

 when they are less prized. In mild districts it 

 has been grown upon a wall, with protection 

 in winter. 



The Free-flowered Strawberry Tree 

 [A. densijiora.). — This is a Mexican species 

 and rather tender. Its leaves are large, shining 

 above, but covered beneath, as are also the 

 angular branches, with ruddy hairs. Its white 

 flowers appear in dense clusters giving it a fine 

 appearance, but though an old plant in gardens 

 it has become rare. 



The Chilian Strawberry Tree {A.fu- 

 riens) . — A low growing kind from the far south 

 of America, rarely growing larger than a bush. 

 The fruit is a small brownish berry, dangerous 

 to eat as causing delirium. 



The Red-stemmed Strawberry Tree 

 [A. hybrldd). — This tree was the result of a 

 cross between the Common and Grecian kinds, 

 and often does duty for the last in gardens, 

 as showing the same fine ruddiness of stem. 

 When mature it is a handsome tree, as large as 

 its parents, equally hardy, and finer in flower. 

 A beautiful specimen may be seen in the park 

 at Bath, nearly 30 feet high and well propor- 

 tioned, flowering profusely every autumn and 

 throughout much of the winter. The flower- 

 clusters are short, rather rounded, and larger 

 than those of Unedo, as are also the leaves. 

 There are several garden forms of this hand- 

 some tree to which names have been given, 

 but their differences are slight. 



Menzies' Strawberry Tree(A. Menziesh) . 

 — A large robust tree of the north-west ot 

 America, from British Columbia to southern 

 California, including Vancouver Island, where 

 it is very abundant. Old trees reach a height 

 of more than 60 feet with a trunk stout in pro- 



