ERIC ACE^— HEATH TRIBE 211 



though not so large as those received from America, are not only equal, but 

 even superior to them in flavour. Gerarde calls these fruits Fen berries. 

 "They grow," he says, "in fennie places in Cheshire and Staffordshire, 

 where I have found them in great plentie." The Dutch term them Fen- 

 grapes. The English name of Cranberry is thought to have been derived 

 from the flower-stalks, which are crooked at the top, and which, before the 

 expansion of the blossom, resemble the arching neck and head of the crane. 

 When packed in casks, these beri-ies undergo a fermentation during a voyage, 

 which somewhat injures their flavour. They might be readily cultivated on 

 any marshy lands; and it has been said that their growth on such spots 

 would prove remunerative, as a single plant soon covers a large space with 

 its progeny. In Sweden, where the shrub is abundant, the berries are not 

 eaten, and were, some years since, used solely for cleaning plate. They are 

 a good astringent, and would probably aid in restoring the lost appetite. 

 They were formerly highly praised for their use in pestilential fevers. The 

 French call the plant Canneherge ; the Germans, Moosebeere ; the Dutch, 

 Feenhessen ; the Italians, Ossicocco ; the Spaniards, Vacernia lagimosa. The 

 North American species {F. macrocdrpum) has been found on Loughton Bog, 

 Flintshire, but was in all probability planted there. 



Order L. ERICACEAE— HEATH TRIBE. 



Calyx 4 or 5 cleft, nearly equal, inferior, remaining till the ripening of 

 the fruit; corolla 4 — 5-cleft, often withering, and remaining attached to the 

 plant ; stamens of the same number as the segments of the corolla, or twice 

 as many, inserted Avith the corolla, or but slightly attached to its base; 

 anthers hard and dry, the cells separating at one extremity, where they are 

 furnished with spurs or awns, and at the other opening by pores ; ovary not 

 adhering to the calyx, surrounded at the base by a disk or by scales, many- 

 celled, many -seeded ; style 1, straight ; stigma 1 ; fruit a berry, or dry 

 capsule, many-seeded. The order consists of shrubs with opposite or 

 whorled leaves, which are often rigid and evergreen, without stipules. Their 

 properties are generally astringent, and some plants, like the Kalmia and 

 Rhododendrons, are poisonous. The Heaths are most abundant in Southern 

 Africa, especially at the Cape of Good Hope, and most of the brilliant and 

 elegant species of our hot-houses are brought from that region. Our native 

 plants of this family often cover large tracts of country, clustering in such 

 multitudes over them, that the heath land owes its name to the heather 

 which covers it. 



1. Heath {Erica). — Calyx deeply 4-cleft; corolla bell-shaped, or egg- 

 shaped, 4-cleft ; stamens 8 ; capsule 4-celled. Name from the Greek, erico, 

 to break, from some fancied medicinal properties. 



2. Ling {Calli'ma). — Calyx of 4 coloured sepals, which are longer than 

 the corolla, having at the base outside 4 green bracts ; corolla bell-shaped ; 

 stamens 8 ; capsule 4-celled. Name from the Greek, callino, to cleanse or 

 adorn, either from the use of its twigs in brooms, or for the beauty of its 

 flowers. 



27—2 



