180 Account and Description of Strawberries. 



25. Cockscomb Scarlet Strawberry. Was raised in 1808 

 by Mr. John Wilmot, of Isleworth, from a seed of Keens' 

 Imperial. Its origin would place it among the Pines, but its 

 greater affinity to the Scarlets has given it its present station. 

 From some specimens which were exhibited to the Horti- 

 cultural Society in 1821, a notice* of this variety was pub- 

 lished ; it was then a novelty. 



It is a good bearer, coming in late. The fruit is large, 

 compressed, with a furrow along the apex, which appears in 

 the shape of a simple indenture when the berry does not put 

 on a cockscomb shape ; the early berries are very large and 

 most completely cockscombed, so much so, as to enclose the 

 calyx within the fruit by surrounding the end of the peduncle ; 

 the colour is bright scarlet ; the seeds are pale, slightly em- 

 bedded, between flat intervals ; the flesh is pale scarlet, solid, 

 with a large core, well flavoured, but without acid. The 

 calyx is spreading. The footstalks of the leaves are crooked, 

 strong, almost smooth ; the leaflets very large, nearly round, 

 slightly folded together, with very large coarse serratures, their 

 texture thicker than that of most other Scarlets, the upper 

 surface rough, shining dark green. The runners strong and 

 few. The scapes half the length of the footstalks, usually ap- 

 pearing as if two were united ; the peduncles stiff, not long, 

 nor much branched ; the blossoms are large and late. 



This is a curious Strawberry, and most remarkable in its 

 appearance. A rich soil is required to grow it in perfection. 

 In habit it approaches Wilmots Late Scarlet, but its leaves, 

 though thick, are of thinner texture and more uneven surface. 

 Large berries of it when formed into a cockscomb, sometimes 



* See Hortultural Transactions, Vol. v. page 2G2. 



