MOUNTAIN FLOWERS 155 



DWARF BILBERRY 



Vacciiiiu/n ccEspitosiini. Huckleberry Family 



Stems: much branched. Leaves: obovate to cuneate-oblong, obtuse, 

 thickly serrulate, reticulate-veiny. Flowers: corolla ovate. Fruit: large, 

 sweet, blue berry, v^ith a bloom. 



The Dwarf Bilberry is really a tiny shrub, but is placed in 

 this Section, as it is so small that few people would think of 

 looking for it in the Flowering Shrubs Section. 



It grows only from three to seven inches high, and has 

 many little fine branches thickly covered with leaves, which are 

 bright green on both sides. These stem-branches bear numer- 

 ous tiny, bell-shaped, pinkish or white flowers, with the calyx 

 five-toothed and about ten stamens. These in time turn to 

 sweet blue berries, covered with a rich bloom, and so large as 

 to be out of all proportion to the plant. 



F. Myrtillus, or Alpine Bilberry, closely resembles the pre- 

 ceding species, but grows slightly taller and has a very promi- 

 nent mid-rib in its leaves, which latter are extremely shiny. 

 It also has pale pink or white bells. The berry is black and 

 nodding. 



MOUNTAIN CRANBERRY 



Vacciniiim Vitis-Idcea. Huckleberry Family 



Branches tufted from creeping stems. Leaves : crowded, oval, emargi- 

 nate, shining above, pale bristly and dark-dotted beneath. Flowers: 

 crowded in a short terminal secund and nodding bracteate raceme. 



The most remarkable feature of this low, creeping, evergreen 

 shrub is that it has numerous black bristly dots beneath the 

 leaves. The clusters of tiny, waxen, pink bells grow on erect 

 branches, which spring from the creeping stems and attain to 

 a height of about eight inches. The berries are dark red and 

 very acid. 



