622 UMBELLULARIA- VACCINIUM 



Native of California and Oregon; introduced by Douglas in 1829, and 

 the only known species. This fine tree is hardy in the open at Kew, and 

 is 1 8 ft. high, being only occasionally injured by severe frost. On a wall 

 it flowers, and has borne fruit. A tree near the porch of Bitton Vicarage, 

 Bristol, frequently bears good crops of fruit. Jepson says that the finest 

 grove in California is near Eel River, where for several miles there is 

 a wood composed entirely of this tree. It likes a sheltered spot in 

 gardens, where it is about equal to the bay laurel as an ornamental 

 evergreen. It is very fine in the gardens of Osborne House, Isle of 

 Wight. I have only raised it from seed, but it could no doubt be layered 

 if not propagated by cuttings. 



VACCINIUM. VACCINIACE^:. 



A large genus of shrubs, or occasionally trees, widely spread over 

 the northern hemisphere, and existing in considerable numbers on the 

 mountains of S. America. They have alternate leaves, and are both 

 deciduous and evergreen. The corolla is more or less bell-shaped, 

 globose, or cylindrical, except in V. erythrocarpum and V. japonicum ; 

 calyx persistent; stamens eight or ten. Fruit a juicy berry. Some 

 authors unite this and allied genera with the Ericaceae, from which they 

 only differ in the corolla being superior (i.e., situated above the ovary), 

 whilst the relative position of these two parts of the flower is reversed in 

 the Erica family. 



As garden shrubs, the Vacciniums are chiefly valued for their fruits 

 and the autumnal colour of their foliage. Many are pretty in flower, but 

 none make the fine display provided by so many of the heath family. In 

 nature they are nearly always found on mountain and moorland, and the 

 genus is one of the most characteristic of the lonely parts of the northern 

 hemisphere. Many produce very palatable fruits. 



Under cultivation they prefer a peaty soil, or a light loamy one devoid 

 of lime, and improved by adding decayed leaves. They are all moisture- 

 loving plants. All the hardier ones produce seed which should be treated 

 as advised for rhododendrons, and the others can be propagated by 

 cuttings made of half-ripened wood in July, and placed in sandy peaty 

 soil in gentle bottom heat. 



There is considerable confusion in the identification of the 

 N. American species of the V. corymbosum group, and American authors 

 are by no means unanimous in their estimates of the number it contains; 

 but they are all hardy, free-growing, and handsome shrubs, the leaves 

 turning red before they fall, but frequently persisting well into the 

 winter. 



V. ARBOREUM, Marshall. FARKLEBERRY. 



(V. diffusum, Aiton, Bot. Mag., t. 1607.) 



A shrub, or small tree, up to 30 ft. high in some of its native localities, 

 and varying also from deciduous to evergreen, according to locality; young 

 twigs downy. Leaves ovate, obovate or oval; \ in. to 2 ins. long, half as 



