250 ERICACEAE. (HEATH FAMILY.) 



tioned is the most remarkable, and the only one which has any claims to be 

 regarded :is a species 



Var, gBj\I>riis§8. Wholly or nearly glabrous throughout ; leaves entire, 



Var. amuPEBBsm, Leaves bristly-ciliate, shining above, green both sides,' 

 beneath somewhat pubescent on the veins. (V. amumum, Ait., &c.) 



Var. 5>ialSisB858lB. Leaves mostly glabrous, pale or whitish-glaucous, espe- 

 cially underneath, serrulate with bristly teeth. (V. pallidum, Ait.) 



Var. atrococcum. Leaves entire, downy or woolly underneath even 

 when old, as also the branchlets; hemes smaller, black, without bloom. (V. 

 fuscatum, Ait. ? <j- Ed. 1.) 



3. CESIOGENES, Salisb. Creeping Snowberry. 



Calyx-tube adherent to the lower part of the ovary ; the limb 4-parted. 

 Corolla bell-shaped, deeply 4-clcft. Stamens 8, included, inserted on an 8- 

 toothed epigynous disk : filaments very short and broad : anther-cells ovate- 

 oblong, quite separate, not awned on the back, but each minutely 2-pointed at 

 the apex, and opening by a large chink down to the middle. Berry white, glob- 

 ular, crowned with the 4-toothed calyx, rather dry, 4-ceIled, many-seeded. — A 

 trailing and creeping evergreen, with very slender and scarcely woody stems, 

 and small Thyme-like ovate and pointed leaves on short petioles, with revolute 

 margins, smooth above, the lower surface and the branches beset with rigid 

 rusty bristles. Flowers very small, solitary in the axils, on short nodding pe- 

 duncles, with 2 large bractlets under the calyx. (Name from x^, snow, and 

 yivos, offspring, in allusion to the snow-white berries.) 



1. €. Slispidula, Torr. & Gr. (Vaccinium hispidnlum, L. Gaultheria 

 scrpyllifolia, Pursh. G. hispidula, Muhl.) Peat-bogs and mossy mountain 

 woods, in the shade of evergreens ; common northward, extending southward in 

 the Alleghanies. May. — Plant with the aromatic flavor of the Boxberry, Win- 

 tergreen, or Birch. Leaves £' long. Berries 4/ broad, bright white. 



Suborder II. ERICIrVEjE. The proper Heath Family. 



4. ABCTOSTAPHYIOS, Adans. Bearberrt. 



Corolla ovate and urn-shaped, with a short revolute 5-toothed limb. Stamens 

 10, included : anthers with 2 reflexed awns on the back near the apex, opening 

 by terminal pores. Drupe berry-like, with 5 seed-like nutlets. — Shrubs with 

 alternate leaves, and scaly-bracted nearly white flowers in terminal racemes or 

 clusters. Fruit austere. (Name composed of apKTos, a bear and aracpvXr], 

 r grape or berry, the Greek of the popular name.) 



1. A. Uv»-?S8'Si, Spreng. (Bearberrt.) Trailing; leaves thick and 

 evergreen, obovate or spatulate, entire, smooth ; fruit red. (Arbutus TJva-ursi, L.) 

 — Bocks and bare hills ; New Jersey to Wisconsin, and northward. May. (Eu.) 



2. Ao alpaaja, Spreng. (Alpine Bearberry.) Dwarf, tufted and de- 

 pressed ; leaves deciduous, serrate, wrinkled with strong netted veins, obovate , 

 fruit black. — Alpine region of the White Mountains, New Hampshire, Mount 



Katahdin, Maine, and high northward. (EuJ 



