74: FAMILIAR FEATURES OF THE ROADSIDE. 



finds its way to the borders of the mountain road; 

 we can always tell it by the flavor of wintergreen in 

 both leaf and berry. The leaves 

 are tiny and ovate-pointed, the 

 minute flowers grow solitary at 

 the junction of the leaf with the 

 main stem, and bloom in May, 

 and the clear, snow-white berries 

 appear in late summer. It is cer- 

 tainly the daintiest member of 

 the Heath family. I very fre- 

 quently find it in the damp woods 

 of the White Mountains. 



On the rocky hillsides of New 

 Jersey and Pennsylvania, and dis- 

 tributed in the far North and 

 the West as far as Missouri, is the 

 low-growing little plant called bearberry (Arcto- 

 staphylos Uva- Ursi). Its small leaves are thick and 

 evergreen, and it trails over the barren, stony ground, 

 much as the arbutus does, but in thick mats. The 

 leaves are toothless and smooth. The flowers appear 

 in May ; they are urn-shaped, flesh-color pink-tipped, 

 and are succeeded by astringent red berries, which 

 are mealy and flavorless ; as they remain on the plants 

 through the winter, they furnish acceptable food for 

 the winter birds. The species A. alpina^ with de- 



Crecping Snowberry. 



