82 Rhodora [APRIL 
them in most descriptive manuals, black and glossy, while those on 
neighboring bushes were pale blue and dull, being covered with a 
glaucous bloom, quite in the manner of the true blueberries ( Vaccinium 
pennsylvanicum and V. corymbosum), which were growing near and 
permitted easy comparison. The two varieties of huckleberry were 
not invariably distinct, for other individuals were found with bluish- 
black berries of an intermediate character. Several plants of each 
kind were examined in much detail to discover other differences cor- 
related with the color variation, but only two points were found, namely 
the size and sweetness of the fruit which were both preceptibly greater 
in the blue than in the black-fruited form. Some days later Mr. 
Walter Deane and I revisited the spot and after together verifying the 
previous observations, marked certain individuals to be watched during 
the next season. 
I inquired of several country people, especially. berry-pickers, 
whether they knew a blue-berried huckleberry. Without exception 
they said they did and that they regarded the blue kind better than 
the common black sort. Naturally I questioned them closely to be 
sure they were not confusing the blue huckleberry with any species of 
Vaccinium. 
On returning to Cambridge, I searched for Botanical references to 
the blue-berried variety and found the following in Emerson’s Trees 
and Shrubs of Massachusetts, p. 399 of ed. 1, regarding the species in 
question. 
* The common variety has black shining berries and leaves green 
on both surfaces. 
A second variety has similar leaves and berries covered with a 
blackish or brownish bloom. 
A third variety has somewhat glaucous leaves and berries covered 
with a glaucous bloom. 
A fourth variety has larger berries of a bluish color with a bluish 
bloom, and very rich to the taste." 
I cannot doubt that the fourth is the variety which would properly 
include the blue-fruited plants on Thorndike Pond. 
The following season I revisited several times the marked plants 
and found with interest that.the blue-berried individuals were preco- 
cious in their development, being a week or two in advance of the black- 
berried form, both in coming into leaf and in the time of flowering. 
No differences of flowers or leaves were observable. One exhibiting 
specimens of the different forms at a meeting of the New England 
