192 



THE STRAWBERRY-TREE. 



of the later butterflies and moths, wild bees, 

 and wasps. The fruit, which takes a year to 

 perfect itself, begins to ripen when the flowers 

 expand; it is of the size of a cherry, and very 

 like a strawberry, being covered with hard 

 tubercles formed by the seeds, which are, how- 

 ever, not simply half-embedded in the berry, like 

 the seeds of the strawberry, but concealed be- 

 neath the cuticle. It is most beautiful at the 

 fall of the year, when its waxy flowers and scarlet 

 berries present a very cheerful appearance. 



A sugar, and a very good spirit have been 

 extracted from the berry, and the leaves, it is 

 said, may be employed with advantage in tan- 

 ning. The wood is of little value, but at 

 Killarney is manufactured into boxes and toys, 

 which are sold to visitors ; it is of a dull brown 

 tint, and marked with fine lines, which are of a 

 yet darker hue. 



A variety is cultivated, which has red flowers, 

 but it is scarcely more beautiful than the common 

 kind. 



The Arbutus gives as marked a character to 

 the hills of Killarney, as the Box-tree does to 

 the famous hill in Surrey, to which it has given 

 the name of Box-hill. Mrs. S. C. Hall says: 

 ^^The tourist, on approaching the lakes, is at 

 once struck by the singularity and the variety 

 of the foliage in the woods that clothe the hills 

 by which on all sides they are surrounded. The 

 effect produced is novel, striking, and beautiful ; 

 and is caused chiefly by the abundant mixture 

 of the tree-shrub {Arbutus Unedo) with the 

 Forest-trees. The Arbutus grows (not wild) in 

 nearly all parts of Ireland; but nowhere is it 



