636 ERICACEAE (HEATH FAMILY) 



19. CHAMAEDAPHNE Moench. LEATHER LEAF. CASSANDRA 



Calyx of 5 distinct acute sepals. Stamens 10 ; anther-cells tapering into a 

 tubular beak, awnless. Capsule depressed, o-celled, many-seeded. Seeds flat- 

 tened, wingless. Low and much branched shrubs, with nearly evergreen and 

 coriaceous leaves, which are scurfy, especially underneath. Flowers white, in 

 the axils of the upper small leaves, forming small 1-sided leafy racemes. (From 

 xa.ua/, on the ground, and 8d<j>vii, laurel.) CASSANDRA D. Don. 



1. C. calyculata (L.) Moench. Leaves oblong, obtuse, flat. {Cassandra 

 D. Don.) Bogs, Lab. to B. C., s. to Minn., Wise., 111., and Ga. Apr., May. 

 (Eurasia.) 



20. OXYDENDRUM DC. SORREL-TREE. SOUK-WOOD 



Calyx of 5 almost distinct sepals, valvate in the bud. Corolla ovate, puberu- 

 lent. Stamens 10 ; anthers fixed near the base, linear, awnless, the cells taper- 

 ing upward. Capsule 5-celled, 5-valved ; the many-seeded placentae at the base 

 of the cells. Seeds slender, the thin and loose reticulated coat extended at both 

 ends into awl-shaped appendages. A tree with deciduous oblong-lanceolate 

 pointed soon smooth serrulate leaves on slender petioles, and white flowers in 

 long one-sided racemes clustered in an open panicle, terminating the branches 

 of the season. Bracts and bractlets minute, deciduous. Foliage acid (whence 

 the name, from <5fiJs, sour, and StvSpov, tree). 



1. 0. arbbreum (L.) DC. Rich woods, from Pa. to Ind., and southw., 

 mostly along the Alleghenies, to Fla. and La. June, July. 



21. EPIGAEA L. GROUND LAUREL. TRAILING ARBUTUS 



Corolla-tube hairy inside, as long as the ovate-lanceolate scale-like nearly 

 distinct sepals. Stamens 10, with slender filaments ; anthers oblong. Style 

 slender, its apex (as in Pyrola) forming a sort of ring or collar around and 

 partly adnate to the 5 little lobes of the stigma. Capsule depressed-globular, 

 6-lobed, 5-celled, many-seeded. A prostrate or trailing scarcely shrubby plant, 

 bristly with rusty hairs, with evergreen and reticulated rounded and heart- 

 shaped alternate leaves on slender petioles, and with rose-colored flowers in 

 small axillary clusters, from scaly bracts. (Name composed of 6ri, upon, and 

 777, the earth, from the trailing growth.) 



1. E. repens L. (MAYFLOWER.) Sandy woods, or in rocky soil, especially 

 in the shade of pines, Nfd. to Sask., Wise., Mich., Ky., and Fla. Flowers 

 appearing in early spring, exhaling a rich spicy fragrance, dimorphous as to 

 style and stamens, and subdioecious. 



22. GAULTHERIA [Kalm] L. AROMATIC WINTERGREEN 



Corolla cylindrical-ovoid or a little urn-shaped, 6-toothed. Stamens 10, in- 

 cluded. Capsule depressed, 5-lobed, 6-celled, 5-valved, many-seeded, inclosed 

 when ripe by the calyx, which thickens and turns fleshy, so as to appear as a 

 globular red berry ! Shrubs, or almost herbaceous plants, with alternate ever- 

 green leaves and axillary nearly white flowers ; pedicels with 2 bractlets. (Dedi- 

 cated to Hugues Gaultier also spelled Gaulthier, Gauthier. and Gautier 

 naturalist and court-physician at Quebec, in the middle of the 18th century.) 



1. G. procumbens L. (TEABERRY, CHECKERBERRY.) Stems slender and 

 extensively creeping on or below the surface ; the flowering branches ascending, 

 leafy at the summit, 5-15 cm. high ; leaves obovate or oval, obscurely serrate ; 

 flowers few, mostly single in the axils, nodding. Woods and clearings, Nfd. to 

 Man., and southw. July, Aug. The bright red berries (formed of the calyx) 

 and the foliage have the well known spicy-aromatic flavor of the Sweet Birch. 



