THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 11 



l)crry" ae self explanatory. From the color of the fruit the 

 species is known as "red bilberry," and "red whortleberry." 

 The term "(lowering box-berry" indicates a confusion of 

 this plant wiih the true box {J^iixits) or perhaps is merely a 

 reference to the similarity in the leaves. "Fox-berry" may 

 have been i;iven the plant in allusion to its inhabiting wild and 

 V( ick y [ilaces, but the name sounds suspiciously like a variation 

 of "box-berry." A southern Vaccinium that often attains 

 tree-like pro[)ortions is / '. arhorcuiii. It is sometimes called 

 "iree hucklel)erry," but more often "farkleberry" or "sparkle- 

 berry." The significance of these names is so obscure that 

 even the dictionaries are silent on the subject. Our species 

 is often called "winter huckleberry" and "gooseberry," the 

 latter name, of course, mis-applied. ]\iccimiiui sfainineum 

 is also called "gooseberry" with slightly more reason for its 

 fruits are greenish like those of the true gooseberry. The 

 plant, however, is more often called "deer-berry" and "squaw- 

 huckleberry," the last name doubtless applied in a disparaging 

 sense for the fruits are scarcely edible. "Dangleberry" w^as 

 l)robably given the plant because the berries hang down be- 

 neatli the leaves. Vaccinium melanocarpum is the "southern 

 gooseberry." 



Turning to what are regarded as the true huckleberries 

 {Gaylussacia) we find that they are mc^re often black than 

 blue and the seeds, though hard are so brittle that they crack 

 and snap when the berries are being eaten. Gaylussacia bac- 

 cata is naturally kn(nvn as "black snaps," and "crackers." 

 This is also another of the "high bush huckleberries" and is 

 als(» known as the "black huckleberry." Another "dangleber- 

 ry" or "tangleberry" is G. frond osa. This species is also the 

 "blue tangle." Gaylussacia ursina, on the strength of the 

 specific name, is the "bear huckleberry" but it is not to be 



