130 



VACCINIE^. 



[part I. 



not longer than the petals. L. buxifolium, a little 

 thyme-like shrub, is now called Leiophylhim 

 thymifolium. All the species have white flowers. 



TRIBE III VACCINIE^. 



The plants comprised in this tribe, which is 

 considered a separate order by many bota- 

 nists, all agree with the genus Vaccinium in 

 having the ovary entirely surrounded by the 

 calyx, which forms a fleshy berry-like fruit 

 when ripe, and in the seeds being scaly. Vac- 

 cinium Myrtillus, the common Bilberry or Blae- 

 berry, is a famihar example of the genus; and 

 Jig. 61 shows the shape of the 

 flowers at a, the manner in which 

 the ovary is enveloped in the 

 calyx at J, and the curious shape 

 of the anthers in the magnified 

 representation of them at c. 

 The berry is five-celled and 

 many-seeded ; and there are 

 eight or ten stamens. Both the 

 anthers and the flower vary in 

 the different species, but the 

 calyx and the manner in which it surrounds the 

 ovary are nearly the same in all, as may be seen 

 m Jig, 62, which represents a specimen of V, 

 tenellum^ the Pennsylvanian Whortle-berry. In 



Fig. 61. — Common 



Bilberry ( Vaccinium 



tenellum). 



