186 Account and Description of Strawberries. 



is large, ovate, with a neck, slightly downy, the early fruits in 

 good situations become conspicuously cockscombed ; when 

 ripe they are a very dark purplish scarlet on the side next the 

 sun, the other side being paler, the seeds are of the same 

 colour as the fruit on the sunned side, yellow on the other, 

 and embedded a little in the skin ; the flesh is scarlet, firm, 

 and the flavour is very superior, but the berries should not 

 be gathered until they acquire a very dark colour, otherwise 

 they are sharp and less agreeable ; in fact, though coloured 

 and thus appearing to be ripe, they are not fully mature. The 

 calyx is large, spreading, sometimes slightly reflexed. The 

 footstalks of the leaves are very long, often reddish, hirsute, 

 spreading, the leaflets large, of thin texture, elliptical, when 

 young concave, but becoming convex, with large coarse serra- 

 tures, their upper surface smooth, shining light green, and 

 when young of a yellowish green. The runners numerous, very 

 hairy, light brown on the upper side. The scapes are very 

 long, upright, villous, stiff, branched, with short crowded pe- 

 duncles ; the flowers middle sized. The leaves retain their 

 verdure and freshness during winter more than those of any 

 other Strawberry. 



The fruit preserves well, making sweetmeats of great 

 excellence and richness. It also mixes particularly well with 

 cream. Since its first introduction it has become a very po- 

 pular fruit, and is not likely to lose any of its high repu- 

 tation, 



5. Sweet Cone Strawberry. Is Number 3, of the collection 

 of seedlings described by Mr. Knight, as before mentioned, 

 having been raised from seed of the Old Pine, impregnated 



