CHAPTER XLV. 



DICOTYLEDONS (CONTINUED). 



SYMPETAL/E. 



435. In the remaining families the corolla is gamopetalout, 

 that is, the petals are coherent into a more or less well-formed 

 tube, though they may be free at the end. For this reason 

 they are known as the sympetala. 



Topic VIII: Dicotyledons with united petals, flower 

 parts in five whorls. 



ORDER BICORNES. 



436. Lesson XVI. The whortleberry family (vacciniaceae), 

 (This study may be omitted. ) The common whortleberry, 

 or huckleberry (Gaylussacia resinosa), flowers in May and June. 

 The shrubs are from $ocm to i meter (1-3 feet) high, and are 

 much branched. The leaves are ovate, and when young are 

 more or less clammy from numerous resinous dots, from which 

 the plant gets its specific name (resinosa). The flowers are 

 borne on separate shoots from the leaves of the same season, 

 and hang in one-sided short racemes as shown in fig. 235. 

 The calyx is short, five-lobed, and adheres to the ovary. The 

 corolla is tubular, at length cylindrical with five short lobes, 

 and is whitish in color. The stamens are ten in number, and 

 the compound ovary has a single style. The fruit is a rounded 

 black, edible berry or drupe, with ten seeds. 



274 



