298 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS. 



Nova Scotia and Wisconsin, and extends northwards to the 

 south side of the Saskatchewan basin. V. nudum, withe- rod, 

 is more common from New Jersey southwards than towards 

 the great lakes ; but occurs as far northwards as the last-named 

 species. V. dentatum, arrow wood, is common in the low 

 grounds of the Northern States up to Wisconsin, and is said by 

 Pursh to extend to Canada ; but it seems to be rare in that 

 country. V. acerifolium, maple-leaved arrow wood, is a more 

 northern species ; and, in common with other shrubs that ap- 

 proach the arctic circle, it crosses the Rocky Mountains to the 

 valley of Oregon, and also to Sitka. It has been traced as 

 far north as Great Slave Lake, occurs also in Newfound- 

 land, and is common in the rocky woods of the Northern States. 

 V. opulus vel oxycoccus. Sir William Hooker is inclined to 

 consider the European and American shrubs known by these 

 names — and of which the handsome snow-ball tree, or guelder 

 rose, is a cultivated variety — to be one species, and Dr Asa Gray 

 unites them. In America the shrub extends from the Northern 

 States and Nova Scotia to lat. 68° on the Mackenzie, and perhaps 

 very nearly to the verge of the woods. It also crosses to the 

 Pacific coast, having been found in the valley of Oregon. Its 

 fruit, of a bright pinkish red colour, has a sharp acid taste, and 

 is the Mongso-a mind (moose-berry) of the Crees, and the Dunne- 

 hi-e or Indian-berry of the Dog-ribs and Hare Indians. The fruit 

 being sometimes used as a poor substitute for cranberries, has 

 obtained for the bush the name of cranberry tree in the Northern 

 States. V. edule, the pembina of the voyagers, was traced by 

 us northwards to the Elk River. It is much less common than 

 the preceding, and has a more fleshy and less acid fruit, of an 

 orange-red colour. The voyagers relish this fruit ; and it has 

 given name to many of the rivers of Rupert's Land. It is the 

 Nipi-minan (water-berry) of the Crees. Miehaux, Dr. Asa 

 Gray, and other authors consider it to be scarcely a variety of 

 V. opulus : I have found, however, its foliage retaining pretty 

 constantly its peculiar character. In V. oxycoccus the lobes of 

 the leaves are separated by acute sinuses, and have long, taper- 

 ing, jagged, or deeply serrated points. In V. edule the sinuses 



