THE WHINBEREY FAMILY. 



343 



CII.— THE ESCALLONIA FAMILY. Escalloniacea;. 



A little family of very beautiful evergreen conservatory shrubs, some 

 of which are sufficiently hardy to bear the winter out of doors, if 

 protected during severe weather. They come chiefly from South 

 America. Leaves alternate, toothed, exstipulate, resinously glandular, 

 and often with a powerful odour. Flowers axillary, or in panicles, 

 conspicuous, their parts in fives ; fruit capsular. The last character 

 is almost the only one by which they are distinguished from the 

 GrossulaceaB. The species most usually grown is the Escallonia rubra. 



CHI.— THE WHINBERRY FAMILY. VaccinidcecB. 



Shrubs or small trees, frequently evergreen, usually much branched 

 and low-growing. Leaves alternate, undivided, more or less oval. 



Fig. 180. 

 Cranberry. 



Flowers solitary or in racemes. Calyx and corolla four to six-lobed, 

 the latter usually ovate or bell-shaped ; stamens twice as many as the 

 lobes, the anthers opening by pores at the end like those of the Heath 

 Family (p. 127). Ovary beneath the flower, ripening into a globular 

 berry, which is crowned by the permanent calyx. This is almost the 

 only character by which the family is distinguished from the Ericaceae. 

 Many authors do not keep them apart. 



