Vacamum.] VacciiiiacecB. 6l 



LXXIV.— VACCINIACE.E. 



Small tree, 1. alt., without stip., fl. in racemes, regular, 

 bisexual; cal.-tube adnate to ov., segm. 5; cor. urceolate, 

 lobes 5, short; stam. lo, epigynous, distinct, each anth.-cell 

 with a sharp spur at top, and also prolonged into a tube 

 dilated at end and there opening by a large pore ; ov. inferior, 

 5 -celled, with several ovules in each, crowned by epigynous 

 fleshy disk, stigma scarcely lobed ; fruit a berry, crowned with 

 cal.-limb, 5- (or apparently 10-) celled, seeds few, small, com- 

 pressed, with endosperm. 



A large Order, principally natives of cold and temperate regions. Our 

 only species is montane. 



VACCINIUBI, L. 



For characters, see Order. — Sp. 100; 17 in Fl. B. Ind., but 

 only one other of these occurs in Peninsular India. 



V. Iieschenaultii, Wight, Ic. t. 1188 (1850). Boralu, S. 

 Thw. Enum. 170. C. P. 270. 



Fl. B. Ind. iii. 455. Wight, Ic. t. 1188; 111. t. 139 {V. rotundifolium). 

 Bedd. Fl. Sylv. t. 227. 



A large shrub or small tree, much branched, bark dark 

 grey, twigs pubescent; 1. numerous, i|-3 in., on short stout 

 petioles, from broadly oval to oval-lanceolate, acute at base, 

 acuminate, finely serrate, glabrous on both sides (save when 

 young on midrib), stiff and rather coriaceous; fl. numerous, 

 moderate-sized, on slender somewhat nodding ped., in rather 

 large, axillary and terminal, slightly pubescent racemes, 

 bracts usually deciduous, often leafy and persistent ; cal. 

 glabrous or puberulous, limb very short, cup-shaped, segm. 

 shallow, triangular, acute, ciliate ; cor. tubular-urceolate, about 

 \ in., lobes very short, ovate, recurved ; fil. hairy, tubular pro- 

 longations of anth. unequal, 1-3 times as long as anth. ; style 

 long, simple, persistent ; berry globose, about \ in., smooth, 

 red ; seeds ovoid, compressed, nearly smooth, pale brown. 



Forests of the montane zone about 4000 ft.; rather common. Fl. 

 Feb., March, September ; bright dark pink, rarely white. 



Also in the Nilgiris. 



A beautiful little tree when in flower. The acid berries are edible. 

 When the bracts of the inflorescence are leafy and persistent, it is var. 

 zeylanica, Clarke in Fl. B. Ind. 



A narrow-leaved variety is also distinguished by Thwaites {Agapetes 

 salidfolia, Gardn. MS.). 



