190 



THE STRAWBERRY-TREE. 



that of the strawberry, for he says that it is the 

 only tree which bears fruit like ground-fruit. He 

 also states, but not on his own authority, that in 

 Arabia it attains an extraordinary height, evi- 

 dently confounding it with some other tree. 



The Arbutus is a native of the mountainous 

 districts of Southern Europe and Northern Africa 

 and of many parts of Asia. In England it only 

 appears in the shrubbery and park. Among the 

 rocky cliffs of Mount Edgecumbe in Devonshire, 

 it flourishes in the immediate neighbourhood of 

 the sea, but it never attains the dimensions of a 

 tree. In Ireland it grows in great abundance 

 about the hills and islands of Killarney; and here 

 it is undoubtedly wild, though unfounded stories 

 are told of its having been introduced by the 

 monks of St. Finnian, in the sixth century. 

 The country people in this neighbourhood eat 

 the fruit, and Babington, whose judgment as a 

 botanist few would call in question, pronounces 

 it excellent. English berries, when thoroughly 

 ripe, are of a mealy consistence, and of a some- 

 what insipid flavour, not unlike that of the haw. 

 At Smyrna and Padua, it is exposed for sale in 

 the markets, and the fruit which it produces near 

 Miletus in Asia Minor, is said to resemble a 

 strawberry, both in size and flavour. It is very 

 probable, therefore, that when growing under cer- 

 tain conditions, the fruit improves in quality ; in- 

 deed, Pliny intimates, that the produce of the 

 tree varies, and Sir James Smith tells us, that 

 in the Levant it is agreeable and wholesome. 



The Arbutus is an evergreen shrub, with a 

 scaly stem, and with dark green, glossy leaves, 

 smaller than those of the Laurel, and serrated 



