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A R B U T U S Unedo.
Strawberry-tree.
DECANDR1A Monogynia.
G e n . C h a r . Cal. deeply 5-cleft. Cor. ovate; its orifice
5-cleft; its base transparent. B e rry superior, 5-
celled. Anthers with 2 pores.
S p e c . C h a r . Stem arboreous. Leaves smooth, bluntly
serrated. Panicle terminal. Berry with many
seeds.
Syn. Arbutus Unedo. Linn. Sp. P L 566. Suppl. 238.
Sm. F I. B r it. 442. Huds. 177. With. 399. Hull,
ed. 2 . 121. Dicks. H . Sicc. fa s c . 13. 16. M ill.
Ic . t. 48.
Arbutus. R a ii Syn. 464. Ger. em. 1496.
L im e s t o n e rocks, which make a part of the beautiful
scenery about the lake of Killarney, in the west of Ireland,
are copiously adorned with this beautiful tree, now completely
naturalized ; though some have suspected that it might have
been brought by the monks, formerly settled there, from
France or Italy. The place in which it grows is certainly so
analogous to its stations in thesouth of France, and (he climate
so mild, that it may well be deemed indigenous. In
our gardens, from whence this specimen was taken, the Arbutus
is tolerably hardy, though the fruit is seldom seen much
to the north of London. It ripens in autumn from the blossoms
of the autumn preceding, but however tempting in appearance,
its vapid flavour is such, that the Latins named it
Unedo, as if nobody would wish to eat more than one.
This is a bushy tree, with a reddish bark, the young shoots
often bright red, and rough with glandular hairs. Leaves
alternate, stalked, elliptic-lanceolate, unequally and bluntly
serrated, smooth, except the rib, shining, veiny, evergreen.
Panicles drooping, composed of a few racemose branches, with
an oblong bractea under each flower. The corolla is of a
greenish semipellucid white, sometimes tinged with red, inodorous.
Anthers pendulous, awned at the base. Fruit
crimson, tuberculated all over, resembling a strawberry, but
the seeds are internal.