14 



LEDUM LEIOPHYLLUM 



Var. DILATATUM has leaves wider than the type, and in this respect is 

 intermediate between this and the preceding species. 



Var. HYPOLEUCUM. Leaves with the wool beneath permanently white. 



LEIOPHYLLUM BUXIFOLIUM, Elliott. 



ERICACE/E. 



SAND MYRTLE. 



(Bot. Mag., t. 6752 ; Ledum thymifolium, Lamarck?) 



A low, much-branched, evergreen shrub of neat, close habit, 9 to 

 1 8 ins. high, the leaves closely set on the branches. Leaves opposite and 

 alternate, ovate, oblong or obovate ; \ to \ in. long, about half as wide ; 

 smooth, glossy, not jtoothed, dark green, very shortly stalked. Flowers 



LEIOPHYLLUM BUXIFOLIUM. 



rosy in bud, produced in May' and June, in crowded terminal clusters 

 f to i in. across ; each flower is \ in. in diameter ; petals white, tipped 

 with pink, oval, spreading almost to the full extent ; sepals narrow lance- 

 shaped, about half as long as the petals. Stamens ten, spreading, their 

 stalks slender ; anthers reddish brown, opening down the side. Flower- 

 stalk very slender, \ in. long. Seed-vessel a two- or three-celled capsule, 

 many-seeded. 



Native of Eastern N. America, from New Jersey southwards; intro- 

 duced in 1736 by Peter Collinson. From its near allies in the heath 

 family it is distinguished by the quite free petals and small box-like leaves. 

 Ledum is one of its nearest allies, but in that genus the pollen escapes 

 from the anther by a hole at the top. It is a charming little shrub of 

 neat aspect, and is at its prettiest just before the flowers expand, when the 

 buds are very rosy. It. blossoms very freely, the flowers almost hiding the 



