28 



V. erythrocarpon, Micbx. 

 Michaux, Fl. Bor. Am. i : 227, 1803. 



(Synonyms: Oxycoccus erectus, Pursh, Fl. 1:264; O. ery~ 

 throcarpus, Elliott, Sketches i, 447.) 



Shrub, erect, divergently branching 1-4 feet high; leaves 

 oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, serrate, thin, 1^-3 inches long; 

 pedicels solitary, axillary, bractless ; corolla flesh-colored, J/ inch 

 long, 4-cleft, revolute, berries globose, ^ inch in diameter, light 

 red, turning to deep blue-black at full maturity, watery, slightly 

 acid, "of exquisite flavor," Don. (Not usually regarded as val- 

 uable.) (Figured: Bot. Mag. ^7413; (as Oxycoccus erectus} 

 Wats. Dendrol. Brit, i, 1.31) Damp woods, higher Alleghanies 

 Virginia to Georgia, July. 



A remarkable species in that it combines the flower structure 

 of the Oxycoccus group wth the erect habit and foliage character 

 of the other vacciniums. The specific name is somewhat mis- 

 leading since, when mature, the fruit is similar to the blueberries, 

 though without the distinct crown of the persistent calyx, found 

 in other vacciniums. 



The species was introduced into England in 1806 by Loddiges, 

 but has been cultivated only in botanic gardens. 



A closely allied species, V. Japonicum, MiqueL, (Miq. Ann, 

 Mus. Bot. Lugd. Bot. i : 28, 1863 ; Maximowicz, Diagnoses PL 

 nov. Jap. et Mand., in Bui. Acad. Sci. St. Petersburg 8 : 603, 

 1871) is found in central and northern Japan, but has not been 

 introduced into cultivation. 



V. nitidum, Andr. 

 Andrews, Bot. Rep. t.48o, 1805. 



A diffusely much branched shrub, with smooth branchlets, 

 leaves thick coriaceous, shining above, obovate or oblong; 

 flowers in fascicles on short racemes ; the almost persistent bracts 

 as well as the roundish or obtuse calyx-teeth reddish ; corolla 

 short campanulate, 5-toothed; berry "somewhat pear-shaped, 

 black." (Figured: Bot. Rep. t.48o.) Low pine barrens, 

 Florida and Georgia. (Near to or passing into Myrsinites). 



