NEILGHERRY PLANTS. 93 
species except Rhododendron, in which they are wanting. Inits geographical distribution 
the family is very decidedly extratropical the northern parts of Europe and especially north 
America being truly their native country. Many however are also found in south America 
beyond the tropics inhabiting the elevated valleys of the Andes, asin India they do those of 
the Himalayas, Neilgherrics, Pulnay mountains, Newera Ellia of Ceylon, &c. In upper 
Assam, inthe Khasyah mountains they also greatly abound. ‘There the late Mr. Griffith 
collected between 20 and 30 species. 
The fruit of nearly all possess an agreeable acid, whence many are in daily use 
as esculents in the northern counties of Europe. ‘The well known Cranberry so famous for 
tarts belongs to this family and the fruit of the species here figured V. Leschenaultit, when 
fully ripe, makes avery excellent substitute, with the exception of a dash of bitter with 
which the acid is combined, requiring an additional quantity of sugar to render it equally 
palatable. With this addition I can safely recommend these berries asa tart fruit, as I have 
eat many tarts made of them, giving them the preference to some of the preserved fruits 
of Europe. 
Beyond that I am not aware of any use to which either of the hill species has 
been applied. The following generic character and remarks on the genus Vaccinium I repub- 
lish from my Icones, vol. 4 part Ist, in which I have published figures of 14 species most 
of them new. 
VACCINIUM. 
Calyx adherent, limb 4-5 lobed. Corolla tubular 4-5 cleft. Stamens 8-10 epigynous, anthers ad- 
nate, 2 celled, often furnished with 2 bristles on the back, the cells ending in a tube open at the apex. Ovary 
4-5 celled, placentas ascending, usually, bearing the ovules on the margin. Berry 4-5 celled, often spuriously 
10 celled through the adherence of :he walls to the thickened placentas. Seed several in each cell, testa co- 
riaceous or somewhat bony : albumen fleshy : embryo orthotropus, radicle next the hilum. Trees, shrubs, &c. 
According to this character it is of no moment whether the lobes of the calyx are large or small, 
whether the corolla is long or short, thick or thin: the anthers may or may not be bristled, but are always ex- 
pected to have the cells more or less prelonged into tubes, and to have the number of cells of the ovary equal 
to those of the lobes of the calyx and corolla, with, more or less distinctly, free ascending placentas and a 
plurality of ovules. Such is the genus Vaccinium as understood by me when naming the following and se- 
veral other still unpublished species in my herbarium. 
DuNAL, in his monagraph of the Order Vaccinia, retains Agapetes and Thibaudia, Endlicher, 
Miesner, and Lindley unite them. Kunth is followed by Miesner in expressing a doubt as to whether Cera- 
tostema is distinct from Thibaudia, and Hooker states that he “ cannot understand what arethe essential dis- 
tinguishing marks between them.” Among the following are species which have been referred by different 
Botanists to Ceratostema, Agapetes, Thibaudia, Gaylussacia and Vaccinium. To determine among so many 
genera it became indispensable to examine the characters of all with much care. After the closest scrutiny 
and careful dissection of the flowers .of all the Indian species in my collection side by side with several ac- 
knowledged Vaccinia from both America and Europe, I found it utterly impossible, from the characters 
given, to make out more than one genus among the Asiatic ones, the structure being the same in all. By 
Roxburgh these would perhaps have been all referred to Ceratostema: Wallich refers them to Thibaudia, 
while Don and Dunal form the genus Agapetes for their reception. Had long tubular flowers been a 
constant feature, I might on that account, aided by geographical distribution, have followed these authors, 
and, assuming that as its essential character, kept up their genus. This however is far from being the case, 
and is therefore, as a generic character, useless. And on turning to Dunal’s character of Vaccinium, I find 
the corolla described as “ campanulata, urceolata vel cylindrica.” 
