104 



HEATH FAMILY 



the northern part of the state, extending in tamarack swamps slightly 

 beyond the region of evergreen forests. Flowers in June, fruit ripe in 

 late fall. 



l/actimum 



ViTti- idaca 



Jaccirnum 



acrocarpum 



Vaccinium macrocarpum Aiton 1789 Large Cranberry 

 Oxycoccus macrocarpus Persoon 1815 



Creeping prostrate shrub, stems slender, often a meter long, about 1- 

 1.5 mm. in diameter, flowering branches more or less erect; leaves leathery, 

 evergreen, elliptical, upper side dark green, glossy, under side paler, 

 glaucous, margin entire, slightly revolute, tip rounded, base rounded, 

 6-15 mm. long, 2.5-5 mm. wide, petioles slender about 1.5 mm. long; 

 flowers in raceme-like clusters of 1-10, the axis of the raceme 1-3 cm. 

 long, and prolonged upward into a leafy shoot, bracts 2-4 mm. long, ovate, 

 pedicels thread-like, red, 2-4 cm. long, bearing two small green leaf- 

 like bractlets above the middle ; sepals 4, their free tips broadly triangular, 

 obtuse, petals 4, lanceolate, 6-10 mm. long, separate almost to the base, 

 spreading or reflexed, pink, stamens 8, exserted, filaments hairy, very 

 short, anthers without awns, the anther sacs prolonged upward into long 

 tubes with terminal pores, style straight, slightly longer than the stamens; 

 fruit red, 1-2 cm. in diameter, sour and nearly inedible when raw, pleasant 

 when cooked : macrocarpum, Gr. large-fruited. 



