316 



Appendix. 



nitude and has been extended into other States, as shown by the accompanying 

 table taken from the census of 1900. 



SPECIES AND DESCRIPTION. 



Two species of cranberries occur within the natural cranberry territory of 

 this country. One is known as the Little Cranberry, Vaccinitim oxycoccus Linn., 

 tmd the others as the Large or American Cranberry, Vacciniutn macrocarpon Ait. 



THE PLANT. 



The small cranberry, V. oxycoccus Linn., is the Old World kind. It is a 

 slender, creeping plant, with short filiform stems four inches to one foot long ; 

 leaves ovate, acute, or acuminate, 14 inch long, with revolute margins ; pedicels 

 1 to 4, terminal ; corolla deeply 4-parted. tlie lobes reflexed ; anthers exserted, 

 with very long terminal tubes ; berry red, globose, 14 to 1-3 inch in diameter. 

 4-loculed. It is indigenous to sphagnum swamps in subartic and Alpine regions 

 of both Europe and America. In the United States it is reported from New Eng- 

 land, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, and the Pacific Northwest. 



The large or American cranberry, V. macrocarpon Ait, is a plant of low 

 creeping habit, stems slender, elongated 1 to 4 feet, the flowering branches as- 

 cending ; leaves oblong or oval, obtuse or refuse 1-3 to lA inch long, whitened 

 beneath ; pedicels, several, axillary and lateral ; berry, red or reddish globose or 

 pyriform, 1-3 to 1 inch long. Its general distribution is stated in the first para- 

 graph of this bulletin. 



THE FRUIT. 



The fruit of the cranberry is borne on short upright shoots of the previous 

 season's growth. The flowers are borne in the axis of the leaves, one to three 

 or four in a place, which gives the fruit the appearance of being distributed 

 along the stem, a fact which is taken advantage of in harvesting. The mechanical 

 devices used for this purpose are constructed so as to take advantage of this pe- 

 culiarity. 



Structurally, both species of the cranberry are closely allied to the so-called 

 huckleberries Botanically, they are classed merely as distinct species, all the 

 blueberries, huckleberries, and cranberries being grouped in the one family 

 i Ericaceae). Of this group, many of wliich produce delicious dessert and culi- 

 Aiary fruits, the cranberry is the only one which has been improved and exten- 

 sively cultivated. It is also worthy of note as being one of the native fruits of 

 America which has become an important commercial product and has won for 

 itself a world-wide reputation. 



