630 VACCINIUM 



glaucous and downy beneath; leaf-stalk in. or less long. Flowers white, 

 with bright yellow projecting anthers, produced during May and June in 

 downy racemes, I to 2 ins. long, furnished with leaflike bracts J to f in. 

 long. Corolla open, bell-shaped, J to in. wide; calyx smooth except on the 

 ciliate margins, flower-stalk slender, downy, to in. long. Fruit greenish 

 or yellowish, round or pear-shaped, ^ in. wide. 



Native of Eastern N. America; introduced in 1772. This is one of the 

 prettiest of Vacciniums in its blossoms, which are freely borne on short, 

 broad racemes, springing from the joints of the previous year's wood. It 

 is distinct among cultivated Vacciniums for the protruding stamens and 

 large, leafy bracts on the racemes. Nearly allied to this species is 

 V. NEGLECTUM, Fernald, which differs in having quite smooth leaves and 

 branches. 



V. ULIGINOSUM, Linnceus. BOG BILBERRY. 



A deciduous shrub, i to 2 ft. high, with very minutely downy or smooth 

 cylindrical branchlets. Leaves obovate, or almost round, not toothed, 

 smooth, or finely downy beneath, dull glaucous green, \ to i in. long, with 

 scarcely any stalk. Flowers produced during May singly or in pairs or 

 threes from the uppermost joints of the previous year's wood, each on .a 

 drooping' stalk about J in. long. Corolla pale red or white, bell-shaped, 

 \ in. long, with usually four teeth. Berries black with a blue bloom, sweet. 



Native of the mountain heaths and bogs of the Northern Hemisphere 

 and common in the north of Britain. The fruit is edible, but is said to 

 produce headache and giddiness if eaten in quantity. It furnishes a valuable 

 food for mountain game, but is scarcely worth cultivating in gardens. From 

 its companion deciduous species in Britain (V. Myrtillus), it is easily dis- 

 tinguished by its round steins, entire leaves, and in the parts of the flower 

 being mostly in fours. 



V. VACILLANS, Solander. BLUE HUCKLEBERRY. 



A deciduous shrub, I to 3 ft. high, with glabrous, yellowish green, warted 

 branchlets. Leaves mostly oval to obovate, i to 2 ins. long, about half as wide; 

 nearly entire, or minutely toothed except towards the base; very shortly 

 stalked, minutely pointed, smooth, firm, pale or glaucous beneath. Flowers 

 produced during May in short clusters on the leafless tips of the previous 

 year's shoots. Corolla pink, cylindrical, about J- in. long ; calyx often 

 reddish. Berries roundish, J to in. wide, black, usually covered with a 

 blue bloom, very sweet. 



Native of the eastern United States from Maine southwards to Georgia. 

 This is a stiffly branched species with firm textured leaves, and is one of 

 the most ornamental in its flowers, which, like the fruits, cover the terminal 

 (and naked) 2 or 3 ins. of the twigs. 



V. ViTlS-lD^EA, Linnaus. COWBERRY. 



A low, evergreen, creeping shrub, 6 to 10 ins. high, with round, wiry, 

 few-branched stems, covered when young with short, black down. Leaves 

 dark lustrous green, box-like, obovate, often notched at the apex, shortly 

 stalked; \ to I in. long, about half as wide; the lower surface sprinkled with 

 black dots. Flowers produced during May and June, five to twelve together 

 in terminal racemes less than i in. long. Corolla white or pinkish, bell- 

 shaped, rather deeply four-lobed, - in. long. Berries dark red, globular, 

 acid and harsh in flavour. 



