32 Rhodora [FEBRUARY 
of the fruit is dryish and unpalatable, in Arctous juicier and to some 
people not wholly unpalatable; but, according to Richardson, Arcto- 
staphylos alpina has the “dark purplish-black berry of more fleshy 
consistence, and a stronger peculiar flavor” than the “one with 
bright red and more juicy fruit” (Arctous alpina, var. rubra). Surely, 
if Arctous alpina can be generically separated from Arctostaphylos 
by its “deciduous” leaves, its distinct nutlets, and its juicier pulp, 
the scarlet-berried shrub, with thinner and nonciliate leaves sometimes 
really deciduous, and with still more juicy fruit, has just as strong 
claims to generic separation from the black-berried 4. alpina with 
marcescent thickish and more rugose ciliate leaves, and fruit “of more 
fleshy consistence.” 
From this analysis of the frail characters pushed to the front by 
those who urge the generic separation of Arctous (Mairania of Britton, 
not Necker) it is apparent that they are not only trivial but largely 
nonexistent, and that no sound reason has yet been advanced for the 
separation of the section Arctous as a genus. 
The scarlet-berried shrub, which led to this exposition of a typical 
case of the elevation to generic rank of long-known and already 
closely studied sections and subgenera, the sort of hasty change that 
some people consider "progressive," may be called, then, by the 
scarcely distinctive name 
ARCTOSTAPHYLOS rubra (Rehder & Wilson) n. comb., rami prostrati, 
cortice brunneo in lamellas secedente, ramulis adscendentibus; 
bracteis interioribus persistentibus gemmarum lanceolatis vel ovatis 
acuminatis; folis membranaceis deciduis vel paullo marcescentibus 
planis vel rugosis glabris, laminis oblanceolatis vel cuneato-obovatis 
1.3-4.5 em. longis 0.6-1.6 cm. latis crenatis eciliatis basi integris apice 
obtusis vel acutis, petiolis pallidis 0.5-1.5 em. longis glabris vel minute 
piloso-ciliolatis; baccis coccineis vel rubris succulentis, seminibus 
5 distinctis 2.5-3 mm. longis, 1.6-2.2 mm. latis. 
Stems prostrate, covered with a loose brown bark exfoliating in 
thin layers; branchlets ascending: inner persistent bracts of the buds 
lanceolate or ovate, acuminate: leaves membranaceous, deciduous or 
slightly marcescent, flat or rugose, glabrous; the blades oblanceolate 
or cuneate-obovate, 1.3-4.5 em. long, 0.6-1.6 cm. wide, crenate, not 
ciliate, entire at base, the apex obtuse or acute; petioles pale, 0.5-1.5 
em. long, glabrous or minutely pilose-ciliolate: berries scarlet or red, 
succulent; seeds 5, distinct, 2.5-3 mm. long, 1.6-2.2 mm. wide.— 
Arbutus caulibus procumbentibus, foliis rugosis serratis, J. G. Gmelin, 
Fl. Sib. iv. 119 (1769), not L. Fl. Lapp. Arctostaphylos alpina (red- 
fruited variety or form) Richardson, Arct. Search. Exped. 433 (1852); 
