890 VACCINIACEAE 



15. OXYDENDRON DC. 



Trees, with a furrowed bark and terete l>ranches. Leaves alternate, deciduous : blades 

 toothed, elongated. Flowers perfect, in graceful horizontally expanded panicles. Calyx 

 persistent, of 5 valvate sepals. Corolla ovoid, drooping, with 5 short lobes. Stamens 

 10, included : filaments broadened : anthers linear, awnless, the sacs opening by terminal 

 chinks. Disk 10-lobed. Ovary 5-celled. Stigma entire. Ovules numerous. Capsule 

 erect, ovoid, loculicidally 5-valved. 



1. Oxydendron arboreum (L. ) DC. A shrub or tree sometimes 20 m. tall, with 



shallowly furrowed bark, the trunk sometimes 6 dm. in diameter. Leaf-blades oblong, 



elliptic or oblong-lanceolate, 8-20 cm. long, acuminate, serrate, lustrous above : panicles 



1-2 dm. long, the branches distichous : pedicels 3-10 mm. long, drooping in flower, erect 



in fruit, often with several ovate scales : calyx puberulent : sepals ovate, 1.5 mm. long, 



acute or acuminate : corolla white, wax-like, conic, 6-7 mm. long, constricted at tlie throat ; 



lobes ovate, obtuse or mucronulate : capsules 4-5 mm. high, angled, canescent. 



In woods, Pennsylvania to Ohio, Florida and Alabama. Summer. Sour-wood. Sorrel-teee. 

 Sour Gum. Tm. 



16. EPIGAEA L. 



Low evergreen shrubby plants, with creeping stems. Leaves alternate : blades leath- 

 ery, entire. Flowers perfect or dioecious, often heteromorphous, in axillary clusters. 

 Calyx subtended by several bracts : sepals 5, imbricated, persistent. Corolla white or pink, 

 salverform : limb usually with 5 lobes. Stamens 10, included : filaments adnate to the 

 base of the corolla-tube : anthers elongated, awnless. Disk 10-lobed. Ovary 5-celled, 5- 

 lobed, pubescent. Stigma 5-lobed. Ovules numerous in each cavity. Capsule depressed- 

 globose, loculicidally 5-valved, hirsute. Trailing Akbutus. 



1. Epigaea rfepens L. Bright green, hirsute. Stems branched at the base, the 

 branches creeping, 0.5-.3 dm. long: leaves persistent ; blades leathery, oblong to oblong- 

 ovate or suborbicular, 2-10 cm. long, apiculate or acute, reticulated, ciliate, rounded or 

 cordate at the base ; petioles 6-30 mm. long: clusters few-many-flowered: bracts ovate to 

 lanceolate, acute : calyx glabrous or nearly so : sepals lanceolate, acuminate, 5-6 mm. long : 

 corolla pink or white ; tube cylindric, nearly twice as long as the sepals ; lobes spreading, 

 ovate obtuse, about i as long as the tube, pubescent within : capsules spheroidal, pubescent. 



In sandy or rocky soil, Newfoundland to the Northwest Territory, south to Florida, Kentucky and 

 Michigan. Spring. Mayflower. 



17. GAULTHERIA L. 



Evergreen shrubs, various in habit, with horizontal or erect stems. Leaves usually 

 alternate : blades leathery. Flowers solitary in the axils, or in racemes. Calyx sometimes 

 subtended by several bracts : sepals longer than the hypanthium, often accrescent. Corolla 

 campanulate or urn-shaped, with 5 spi'eading or recurved lobes. Stamens 10, included : 

 filaments adnate to the base of the corolla-tube : anthers usually 2-awned, opening by ter- 

 minal pores. Disk 10-lobed. Ovary 5-celled, 5-lobed, glabrous. Stigma entire. Ovules 

 numerous in each cavity. Berry fleshy, inclosed in the accrescent hypanthium and calyx, 

 often highly colored and aromatic. 



1. Gaultheria procumbens L. Perennial, glabrous or minutely pubescent with 



upcurved hairs. Stems creeping, the branches erect or ascending, 3-15 mm. high, rarely 



branching, leafy at the top : leaves persistent; blades leathery, oval or elliptic, varying to 



ovate or obovate, or often apiculate, serrate with bristle-tipped teeth, connnonly variegated 



above, narrowed into short petioles : pedicels 4-8 mm. long, recurved, with 2 broadly ovate 



bractlets : calyx white : sepals ovate, acutish, ciliolate : corolla white, wax-like, ovoid, 



6-7 mm. long, with a flat base ; tube constricted at tlie throat ; lobes ovate, obtuse, recurved, 



villous within : filaments densely villous: fruit subglobose, 7-11 mm. in diameter, bright 



red or white, spicy. 



In woods, Newfoundland to Manitoba, Georgia and Michigan. Spring and summer. Creeping 

 Wiktergreen. 



Family 5. VACCINIACEAE Lindl. Huckleberry Family. 



Shrubs or small trees, sometimes evergreen. Leaves alternate : blades simple, 

 mostly ciliate. Flowers perfect, regular, in variously disposed clusters, or soli- 

 tary. Calyx of 4-5 sepals. Corolla usually gamopetalous. Androecium of 



