196 



American Midland Naturalist Monograph No. 4 



Granite Park; Sexton Glacier, below Siyeh Pass; near Logan Pass. YELLOWSTONE, 

 common: Burning Mountain; Frying Pan. GRAND TETON. ROCKY MOUNTAIN, rare in 

 damp places at higher elevations. 



4. Oregon Wintergreen (Gaulthena ovatifolia Gray). — Low, herb- 

 like trailing plant, 2 to 8 inches high; stems and leaf-stalks more or less 

 hairy; leaf-blades oval to egg-shaped or roundish-egg-shaped, 1/2 to II/2 inches 

 long, pointed at the tips, the margin finely toothed; flowers small, white, bell- 

 shaped, borne singly; berries globose, red, sweet. 



Occurrence.— OLYMPIC: Mount Angeles; Elk Lake, 2,500 feet; Canyon Creek. 

 MOUNT RAINIER, occasional in open woods, 3,000 to 4,500 feet: Cowlitz River south of 

 Canyon Bridge. CRATER LAKE: south of boundary spring, northwest corner of park; 

 Whiskey Creek, near west entrance. 



Creeping Pearlberry (Chiogenes his- 

 pidula T. & G.), fig. 115. — Evergreen trail- 

 ing plant with slender slightly woody stems; 

 leaves alternate, small, mostly less than % 

 inch long, egg-shaped, the lower surface 

 and the stems covered with stiff rusty bris- 

 tles closely appressed to the surface; flowers 

 white, small, with deeply 4-cleft corollas, 

 borne singly on very short stems in the axils 

 of the leaves; berries white, crowned by 4 

 calyx teeth, about I/4 inch in diameter, 

 many-seeded. The herbage has aromatic 

 flavor similar to that of wintergreen. 



Occurrence. — ISLE ROYALE, common in bogs 

 and moist forests: Mott Island; Washington Har- 

 bor along trail to Windigo Mine. 



Blueberry, Bilberry, Whortleberry, 

 Cranberry (Vaccinium L.) 



Fig. 115. Creeping pearlberry 

 (C/iiogenes hispidula). 



There are many species of Vaccimum 

 in our national parks, found mostly in the 

 more northern parks where they are among 

 the most sought after of all the wild berries. Most of the species bear an 

 abundance of sweet berries delicious in pies or when eaten fresh. Many are 

 collected each year by local residents for preserving or jelly. Bears and small 

 mammals are also fond of them. In certain localities many of the species 

 have been commonly called huckleberry but this is the name given to an 

 eastern genus, Gaylussacia, which is very similar to Vaccmium except that its 

 berries have hard stony seeds. The fruits of Vaccinium have numerous 

 tiny seeds. 



The herbage of most of the species furnish valuable browse for wild life. 

 The foliage of the evergreen species found on the Pacific coast provides beau- 

 tiful greenery and is often planted as an ornamental. Among the evergreen 

 species are the small trailing cranberry plants which grow in sphagnum bogs 



