l!() 



AMERICAN' MEDICINAL LEAVES AND HERBS. 



BEARBEKRY. 



Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (L.) Spreng. 



Pharmacopoeial name. — Uva ursi. 



Other common names. — Red bearberry, bear's-grape, bear's bilberry, bear's whortle- 

 berry, foxberry, upland cranberry, mountain cranberry, crowberry, mealberry, rock- 

 berry, mountain box, kinnikinnic, killikinic, uni^•erse vine, brawlius, buiTen myrtle, 



creashak, sagachomi, rap- 

 per dandies (fruit). 



Habitat and range. — 

 Bearberry is a native of 

 this country, growing in 

 drj' sandy or rocky soil 

 from the Middle Atlantic 

 States north to Labrador 

 and westward to California 

 and Alaska. 



Description. — The bear- 

 berry is a low, much- 

 branched shrub trailing 

 over the ground and hav- 

 ing leathery, evergreen 

 leaves. It is a member of 

 the heath family (Erica- 

 ceee) and produces its 

 pretty waxy flowers about 

 May. , 



The numerous crowded 

 leaves are thick and 

 leathery, evergreen, about 

 one-half to 1 inch in 

 length, blunt and widest 

 at the top and narrowing 

 at the base, with a net- 

 w'ork of fine veins, smooth, 

 and ■with margins entire. 

 The flowers are few. borne 

 in short drooping clusters 

 at the ends of the 

 branches, and are ovoid 

 or somewhat IjcII shaped in form, four or live lobed, white with a pinkish tinge. 

 They are followed by smooth, red, globular fruits, with an insipid, rather dry pulp, 

 containing five nutlets. (Fig. 12.) 



Collection, prices, and uses. — Bearberry or uva ursi leaves, official in the United 

 States Pharmacopoeia, are collected in autumn. Collectors receive from about 2 

 to 4 cents a pound for them. Bearberry leaves ha\e a bitter, astringent taste and a 

 faint odor. They act on the kidneys and bladder and have astringent and tonic 

 properties. 



Another .rpcrics. — The leaves ol man/.anihi [ Arcto.staphi/los (jhiiira Lindl.). a ishrub- 

 like tree, 9 to 25 feet higli, have properties similar to uva ursi and are also used in 

 medicine for similar purposes. They are of a leathery texture, pale green, ovate 

 oblong in shape, witli unbroken margins, and about 2 inches in length. Manzanita 

 grows in California, in dry rocky districts on the western slopes of the Sierras. 



ri(i. 12.— Ri'arln'iTv (,1 /(7as7ap/(y/os Myo-Mr«0. leaves and fruits. 



