ERIC ALES. 



500 



The Ericineae are doubtless to be regarded as the central or main 

 group, from which the others have diverged. In the diagram the dis- 

 tinguishing characters which are given for Ericineae may be regarded 

 as typical for the order, and under each of the other sub-orders are 

 given the exceptional characters, or more properly, the modifi nations of 

 the original ordinal characters. 



Sub-Order Ericinece. About 1000 species of shrubs, many 

 evergreen. Many are Fiog 436 _ 9 ._ lLLU8TBATIONg OP EBICA C1NEBBA . 

 of great beauty, and are f . , 



extensively grown as 

 ornaments ; others are 

 good-sized trees, and 

 furnish valuable tim- 

 ber. (Figs. 436-9.) 



Arbutus Menziesii, 

 the Madrona of the Pa- 

 cific coast of the Unit- 

 ed States, is an ever- 

 green tree twenty-four 

 to thirty metres (80 to 

 100 ft.) in height. Its 

 hard wood is useful in 

 furniture-making. 



Arctostaphylos pun- 

 gens and A. ylauca are 

 large evergreen shrubs 

 of California, which 

 bear the name of Man- 

 zanita. The heavy, 

 dark-colored, and fine- 

 grained wood is used in 

 turnery and furniture- 

 making. The berries 

 are eaten by grizzly 

 bears. 



A. Uva-ursi, the 



Bearberry of the colder Fig. 438. Diagram of flower, 

 portions of North ** *-Sectton of ovary. Magnified. 

 America, Europe, and Asia, bears bitter and astringent leaves, which 

 are officinal. 



Catluna vulgaris, the Common Heath of Central and Northern Europe, 

 is a low, straggling evergreen under-shrub. Its stems are made into 

 brooms, and its flowers afford an abundance of excellent honey. It 

 occurs in a few scattered localities in Massachusetts, Maine, Nova 

 Scotia, and northward, but it is doubtful whether it is really indigenous 

 to any part of the United States. 



FIG. 438. FIG. 439. 



Flower 



Section of flower. Magnified. 



Fig. 436. Flowering stem 

 Fig. 437.-- 6 - 



