LXXVIII. ERICACEAE. 



367 



and roadsides, Can., N. Eng. ! to Ga. and 111.! The strict, upright stem, is 

 furnished with distant, short, alternate, heart-reniform, veiny, stem-clasping 

 leaves, containg 1 — 4 crowded flowers in the concavity of their upper surface. 

 Flowers axillarv and terminal, the upper clusters larger. Corolla blue or pur- 

 ple, with spreading segments, calyx segments acute, lanceolate. June, July. 



2. S. SPECULUM. Vemis' Looking-glass— Si. diffuse, very branching ; lis. ob- 

 long-crenate ; fls. solitary ; scales at the base of the corolla sometimes wanting. 

 — A pretty border flower named from the form of the blue corolla, which resem- 

 bles a little, round, concave mirror (speculum). Aug. 



Order LXXVIII. ERICACEiE.— Heathworts. 



Plants shrubby or suffruticose, sometimes herbaceous. 



Lvs. simple, alternate or opposite, mostly evergreen, entire or tooihed, viithout stipules. 



Inflorescence various. Ca!. mferior or superior, 5- (seldom 4— fi) leaved or c-left, rarely entire. 



Cor. regular or somewhat irregidar, 4— 5- (rarely 6-) cleft, the petals rarely almost distinct. 



Sto. Generally distmct and uiserted with the corolla. „ , „ . ^[appendaee<L 



Anth. as many or twice as many as the lobes of the corolla, 2-celled, generally opening by pores, often 



Embryo straight, lying in the axis of, or in the end of fleshy albumen. 



Genera 66, species 1086, diftused throughout all countries, but comparatively rare in the torrid zone. Tha 

 true F.ricacea? (Heaths) are chiefly natives of the Cape of Good Hope, there being none in Asia, New 

 Holland, and but one or two in America. The Tribe Vaccines are chiefly natives of N. America. 



Properties —The Ericaceae are, in general, astrinsent and diuretic. Some of them yield a stimulating 

 and aromatic resinous matter. The Bearberry. (Arctostaphylos Uva-ursi) is a well-known remedy in 

 nephritic complaints. An infusion of the leaves is astringent, demulcent and diuretic. Similar properties 

 are also possessed by the Pipsissiwa (Chimaphlla umbellata). The species ot Rhododendron and Kal- 

 mia are pervaded by a narcotic principle, rendering them (particularly their leaves) often actively poison- 

 ous The honey collected from their flowers by bees appears to have been so to some of the soldiers m 

 the retreat of the immortal ten thousand (Xenophon's Anabasis). The berries of the Vaccines (Whor- ■ 

 tleberries, Blueberries and Cranberries,) and of Gaultheria procumbens (spicy ^\ intergreen) are esculent 

 and wholesome. 



FIG 43— 1 Azalea procumbens. 2. A flower enlarged. 3. A stamen much enlarged, showing the 

 longitudinal dehiscence of each of the cells. 4. Cross section of a 5-celled capsule of Rhododendron, 

 showing the infle,\ed margins of the valves. 5. Pyrola secunda. 6. A flower enlarged. 7 A stamen 

 enlarged showing the terminal tubes and pores. 8. Cross section ot a 5-celled, many-seeded capsule. 

 9 Gaultheria procumbens. to. A flower enlarged. 11. A berry. 12. Vertical section of the ovary, show- 

 ing the free, fleshy calyx. 13. Anther of Vacciniura Vitis Ideas. 14. Stamen of Arctostaphylos Lva-ursi. 

 15. Awned stamenof a Vaccinium. 



