ARCTOSTAPH YLOS U VA-U RSI. 



BEAR-BERRY. 



NATURAL ORDER, ERICACEAE. 



Arctostaphylos Uva-ursi, Sprengcl. — Corolla ovate and urn-shaped, with a short, revolute. 

 five-toothed liml); stamens ten, included within the corolla; anthers with two reflexed 

 awns on the back near the apex, opening by terminal pores; drupe berry-like, with five to 

 ten seed-like nutlets. Specific character. — Trailing; leaves thick and evergreen, obovate 

 or spatulate, entire, smooth ; fruit red. (Dr. Gray in Manual of Botany. See also Wood's 

 Class Bool.' ; Watson's Botany ifi ^oth Parallel ; Botany of California Geological Sur-jcy.) 



HIS pretty spring flower is popularly called the " Bear- 

 Berry." As such it was known all over Northern Europe, 

 where it also grows wild, long before botany was a science and 

 Linn^us, the great botanical " Adam," gave intelligent names to 

 vegetable things. Thus it came that its generic name, Arcto- 

 staphylos, compounded from the Greek, and signifying " Bear 

 Berry," is derived from the common name, as also is the Latin 

 specific term Uva-ursi. It is remarkable that the generic, spe- 

 cific, and common names, though representing three languages, 

 all mean the same thine, — a circumstance that docs not often 

 occur in botanical nomenclature. The plant received the name 

 because the bears are said to be fond of the fruit, and the writer 

 of this has had evidence in the mountains of Colorado that this 

 fondness is not a myth. Birds are also fond of the berries, and in 

 Europe especially they are said to be a common food with game. 

 There is no pleasant taste in them to human experience. They 

 arc astringent, and this quality gives medical value to them in 

 treating diseases of the kidneys, and where it i.s desirable to 

 check excessive secretions of mucus. The whole plant, indeed, 

 partakes somewhat of this quality, and is used in the North of 



