582 VACCINIACEAE. [Vor. II. 
2. Oxycoccus macrocarpus (Ait.) Pers. 
Large or American Cranberry. (Fig. 2800.) 
Vaccinium macrocarpon Ait. Hort. Kew. 2:13. fl.7. 1789. 
Oxycoccus macrocarpus Pers. Syn. 1: 419. 1805. 
Similar to the preceding species, but stouter and 
larger, the branches often 8’ long. Leaves oval, ob- 
long, or sometimes slightly obovate, obtuse at both 
ends, entire, 3/’-7’’ long, 1/’-3/’ wide, white or pale 
beneath, the margins revolute; flowers several in 
terminal somewhat racemose clusters, nodding on 
erect usually 2-bracteolate pedicels; corolla light 
pink, 4’’-5’’ broad, divided very nearly to the base; 
filaments puberulent, about one-third the length of 
the anthers; berry ovoid, oblong or nearly globose, 
acid, 4/’-9’’ long. 
In bogs, Newfoundland to the Northwest Territory, 
south to North Carolina, West Virginia, Michigan and 
Minnesota. June-Aug. Fruit ripe Sept.—Oct. 
3. Oxycoccus erythrocarpus ( Michx.) Pers. 
Southern Mountain Cranberry. (Fig. 2801.) 
Vac. erythrocarpon Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. 1: 227. 1803. 
Oxycoccus erythrocarpus Pers. Syn. 1: 419. 1805. 
A divergently branched shrub, 1°-6° high, the 
twigs pubescent or glabrous. Leaves thin, green both 
sides, paler beneath than above, reticulate-veined, 
ovate, ovate-lanceolate, or ovate-oblong, acuminate at 
the apex, rounded, subcordate or the terminal ones 
narrowed at the base, finely serrulate with bristle- 
pointed teeth, flat, 1/-3/ long, %/-1’ wide; flowers 
solitary in the axils; peduncles pendulous, filiform, 
usually minutely 2-bracteolate at the base and less 
than one-half as long as the leaves; corolla deeply 
4-parted, red, about 5’’ broad; filaments villous, about 
one-fourth the length of the anthers; berry globose, 
dark red when ripe, acid, 2’’-3’’ in diameter. 
In woods, mountains of Virginia to Georgia. June- 
July. Fruit ripe July-Sept. 
Family 6. DIAPENSIACEAE Link. Handb. 1: 595. 1829. 
DIAPENSIA FAMILY. 
Low tufted shrubs, or perennial scapose herbs, with alternate or basal sim- 
ple exstipulate leaves, and small white pink or purple gamopetalous or polypet- 
alous perfect and regular flowers, solitary in the axils, or racemose at the 
summit of scapes. Calyx 5-parted, persistent; sepals imbricated in the bud. 
Corolla 5-lobed, 5-cleft, or 5-parted, deciduous. Stamens 5, inserted on the 
throat of the corolla and alternate with its lobes, or connate, sometimes with as 
many alternating staminodia; anther-sacs longitudinally or transversely dehis- 
cent; pollen-grains simple. Disk none. Ovary free from the calyx, superior, 
3-celled; style mostly stout, persistent; stigma 3-lobed; ovules few or numerous 
in the cavities, anatropous or amphitropous. Capsule 3-celled, loculicidally 3- 
valved. Seeds minute, the testa loose or close; endosperm fleshy; embryo 
terete; cotyledons short; radicle elongated. 
Six genera and about 8 species, natives of the northern hemisphere. 
Low tufted evergreen shrubs; corolla gamopetalous. 
Tufted arctic-alpine shrub; flowers terminal, peduncled. 1. Diapensia. 
Trailing shrub; flowers solitary, sessile. 2. Pyxidanthera, 
Tall scapose perennial herb; flowers spicate-racemose; petals separate. 3. Galax. 
1. DIAPENSIA L. Sp. Pl. r41. 1753. 
Densely tufted glabrous low evergreen shrubs, with thick rather fleshy imbricated nar- 
row leaves, and solitary terminal erect peduncled white or pink flowers. Calyx 2-4-bracted 
at the base, the sepals oval, obtuse, somewhat rigid. Corolla campanulate, tardily decidu- 
ous, 5-lobed, the lobes obtuse. Stamens 5, inserted at the sinuses of the corolla; filaments 
