136 VACCINIE.E. [Vacvinium. 



fleshy albumen : cotyledons very short : radicle long, inferior. — 



Small shrubs, with deciduous or evergreen leaves. 



1. Vaccinium. Linn. Whortle-Berry. 



Calyx superior, 4 — 5-toothed. Corolla of 1 petal, bell-shaped 

 or campanulate, with 4 — 5 teeth or segments. Anthers with 

 two pores. Berry globose, 4-celled, many-seeded. — Name ; 

 some sa}' the vukipOos, of the Greeks, and hence synonymous 

 with Hyacinthus ; but the etymology of the word is unknown. 



Octandria. Monogynia. 



>js Leaves deciduous. 



1. V. Myrtillus, Linn. Bilberry or Whortle-Berry. .Stalks 

 solitary, single-flowered ; leaves ovate, serrated, membranous, 

 smooth, deciduous; stem acutely angular; calyx wavy, nearly 

 entire. Br. Fl. 1. p. 177. E. Fl. v. ii. p. 209. E. Bot. t. 456. 



Woods and heathy places, chiefly in mountainous districts, abundant. 

 Fl. May. T? . — Flowers drooping, urceolate, almost waxy, greenish 

 with a red tinge. Anthers tubular, each cell opening by a pore at the 

 extremity, and having a horn at the back. Berry black, glaucous, 

 very agreeable to the taste, and known in Ireland as Frochin-berries. 



* * Leaves evergreen. 



2. V. Vitis Idcea, Linn. Red Whortle-Berry, Cow-Berry. 

 Clusters terminal, drooping, with ovate, concave bracteas, longer 

 than the flower stalks ; leaves obovate, revolute, minutely 

 toothed, clotted beneath ; corolla bell-shaped. Br. Fl. 1. p. 

 178. E. Fl. v. ii. p. 220. E. Bot. t. 598. 



Dry heathy places on mountains. Plentiful on the Dublin Moun- 

 tains, near Lough Bray ; in Cunnamara, and mountains in the northern 

 counties. Heaths near Dungannon ; Mr. Campbell. A variety, with 

 serrated and undulated leaves, was pointed out to me on the Mourne 

 Mountains, above twenty years ago, by the late Mr. Templeton, (who 

 also found it in a bog near Ballynahinch, in the County of Down,) 

 agreeing with a specimen of Haller's he saw in Sir Joseph Bank's 

 herbarium. Perhaps the same as the dwarf variety found by Mr. 

 Murray on the Campsie and Arran hills in Scotland, mentioned by 

 Doctor Hooker. Fl. May, June. T? . — A low somewhat straggling 

 shrub, with leaves resembling those of box. 



3. V. Oxycoccus, Linn. Marsh Whortle-Berry, Cran-Berry. 

 Peduncles terminal, single-flowered ; leaves ovate, evergreen, 

 glaucous beneath, their margins revolute and entire ; corolla 4- 

 parted, revolute; stem filiform. Br. Fl. \.p. 178. E. Fl. v. ii. 

 p. 221. E. Bot. t. 319. — Oxycoccus palustr is, Rich. — Lindl. Syn. 

 p. 1 34. 



In peat bogs, especially among Sphagnum, or white Bog Moss, 

 in various parts of the country. Fl. June. J? . — Stems straggling, 



