C)^)^ PLANT LIFK <>K ALABAMA. 



bliU'k, dry, insipid. Clay County, near I'lilpit Rock, L', 200 feo). On tlicHo sunuiiitB a 

 Htra;^;ilin^ HJirnh, Kcarccly ovt-r S or I Icet liitrli, l)eni('8 ripenin;: in Dctcinbtr (win- 

 trrlifiiy). In tlio i)ino harn-ns of tlu> ('<iaHt J'ino licit a tree I'roni If) to 30 lict liijih 

 and .1 to 10 in( ins in diani«t«'r. 



l.roiioniii' list's: Of hoimo valno lor tlio fnuvfjiained wood. 



TyiM" lociility : *' i'his j^row s nutnrally in Carolina. " 



Hcrlt. (u'ol. Sur\ . Jlcrli. Mohr. 



Vaccinium stamiueum Ti. Sj). ]'l. 1 : ;5r>0. 1758. 



1»ki:i;hkijky. St^rAW lIucKi.KnEHUY. 



Kll.Sk.l: lilC. (iray, Man.ed.li, 31-'. Chap. 1"1. 1'.".!). (iray, Syn. Fl. N. A. 2, pt. 1 : 21. 



Carolinian and Lonisianiau areas. Ontario; New Enfrland along the. toast to 

 N'irginia; western Ohio to Missouri and Arkansas^soutli to I'lorida and Texas. 



Alabama : t^ver the State In dry or damp li;nren soil, open wooils, borders of 

 thickets. Flowers white, Ai>ril ; fruit rijio in .July and August, greenish, acerb. 

 Not rari\ One to 2 f«'ft high, sinoothish or pnlicscent. 



In the pine barren.s about Mobile a low Ibrni, scarcely over (! iinhcs high, with 

 spreading branches and silky touicntose ciliatc leaves, is not rare. 



Type locality : '" Hab. in America septentrionali."' 



Herb. Geol. Surv. Herb. Mohr. 



Vacciiiiuni melanocarpuni. Southern Goosebkkuy, 



rncriniiim slaininctnn mclauocarpirm Mohr. Bull. Torr. Club, 24 :2.5. 1897. 



Shrub erect, 2 to 4 feet high; leaves oblong-laneeolate, 2 to 1 inches long, 'i to 1 

 inch wide, like the branchlets enioothi.sh or slightly imbescent; racemes elongated, 

 2 to 2.V inches long, loose, 4 to 8 llowered; pedicels sleiidiT, droo])iug, from the axils 

 of persistent ovate-oblong bracts; berries fully # inch in diameter, shining-black, 

 with a.juicy pulp, ]ialatable, of a Boniewhat aromatic flavor. The shrub bending 

 nntler the load of its berries gracefully suspendeil on the slender racemes presents a 

 pretty sight. Platic VII. 



Carolinian area. Southwestern Missouri (Ozark llillsj. 



Alabama: Teunessee Valley. Jlountaiu region. Lower hills. Woodson rocky 

 or gravelly soil. Latnlcrdalo County, barrens. 1 )ekalli County, Lookout .Mountain, 

 1,000 to 1,S00 feet. St. Clair County, Coosa Hills, copiously near Springvillc. Lee 

 County, Auburn {liakcr <i- h'arle, 316). 



Although resembling larger-leaved and stouter forms of V. stamiveum, this shrub, 

 conHned to the nionntaia region, appears suHiciently distinct to be regarded as a 

 proper species. The erect habit of growth, the numerous branches always erect, 

 the erect-spreading large leaves, the, strictly racemose inllorescewce, the slender i)ed- 

 icels proceeding mostly singly from the oblong to ovate to linear bracts, and the 

 large juicy fruit of a dark ]>luni-i)Uiple color, rijjcning much earlier than in the 

 allied species, distinguish it at once from the same. 



Specimens collected by Letterman in 1875 in southwestern Missouri, near Iron 

 Mountain, and preserved in the Engelmann herbarium belong hei'e. The collector 

 was struck by the peculiar aspect of this shrub. After describing it in a letter to 

 Dr. Lngelmann as a ]dant 3 to 5 feet high, with the berries, some pyriform, some 

 globo.se, of dark purple, and a pleasant flavor when ripe, while unripe or partially 

 ripe, bitter, ho adds enthusiastically: "I w^ould wish you could see the bushes 

 freighted with their purple, and, I might add, to u\y taste, delicious fruit." 



i^conomic uses: Th«i berries are eagerly consumed by man and beast. 



Type locality: ".Mountain region" of Alabama. More speciflcally, St. Clair 

 County, near Ashville, July, 1880. 



Herb. Geol. Surv. Herb. Mohr. 



Vaccinium melauocarpum caudicaus var. nov. 



To all ayipearance of lower stature; leavt^s smaller than in lh<- tyjie, the lower 

 surface covered with a clo.se, line, almost milk-white tomentuni. 



Alabama: Lee County, Auburn (Baker ^ Earle), August, 1897. 



Herb. Geol. Surv. Herb. Mohr. 



Vaccinium melauocarpum sericeum a ar. nov. 



Branchlets, leaves, and unripe finit with a soft, silky, appressed pubescence; 

 leaves ample; dark green. 



Alabama: With the type. Kockv wooded hills near Snringville, St. (lair 

 County, May 28, 1892. 



Herb. Geol. Surv. Herb. Mohr. 



