HEATH FAMILY 



181 



The ripening ber- 



2. A. patula Greene. Green Manzanita. Leaves green 

 and glabrous, oval to orbicular, obtuse, 



broad at base, 1 to 2 in. long, ^ to 2 in. 

 broad, spreading or pendulous. Flowers 

 deep pink, % in. long, in rounded ter- 

 minal clusters. Berry smooth, fleshy, 

 over 54 i n - across. {A. pungens platy- 

 phylla Gray.) 



The stems of this Manzanita are 

 commonly 4 to 6 ft. high and branched 

 to make spreading shrubs. It forms 

 much of the chaparral on slopes around 

 the Yosemite Valley, ranging from 

 about 4500 to at least 9000 ft. alt. and is 

 widely distributed in the Sierra Nevada, 

 ries are pleasingly acid, the taste being similar to that of 

 green apples. It is said that they are much sought by bears, 

 and chipmunks are very fond of the seeds. 



3. A. maripdsa Dudley. Leaves pale gray, rough-pubes- 

 cent (petioles and twigs stiff-hairy), ovate to broadly oblong, 

 obtuse but with a short point, 1 to V/z in. long, ^ to 1% 

 in. broad, mostly erect. Flowers in flat-topped clusters. 

 Berry scarcely % in. broad, soon dry and mealy. 



The desiccated foothill slopes form the natural habitat of 

 this species, but it also ranges well up into the Yellow Pine 

 Belt on warm exposures, reaching Yosemite Valley and ex- 

 tending up southward slopes to about 6000 ft. alt. The shrubs 

 are erect, commonly 3 to 5 ft. high, and with spreading 

 branches. 



4. A. tomentdsa Dougl. Hairy Manzanita. Similar to 

 A. mariposa but leaves green and nearly smooth, either erect 

 or loosely spreading. Berry larger, Y% in. across. — Hetch 

 Hetchy and the lower foothills. 



13. VACCINIUM. Blueberry. Cranberry. Bilberry. 



Shrubs, ours all small and confined to high altitudes. Calyx- 

 tube adherent to the ovary, which becomes a 4 to 5-celled 

 many-seeded berry crowned with the short calyx-teeth. 

 Corolla in our species rose-color, ovate or globose. Stamens 

 8 or 10, included in the corolla-tube. 



1. V. occidentale Gray. Sierra Bilberry. Stems 1 or 2 ft. 

 high, the twigs densely leafy. Leaves glabrous, oval or oblan- 

 ceolate, entire, % to Y\ in. long. Flowers 2 to 4 or solitary in 

 the leaf-axils, from distinct scaly buds. Calyx-limb deeply 



