CASSANDRA CALYCULATA. 



LEATHER-LEAF ; CASSANDRA. 



NATURAL ORDER, ERICACE/E. 



Cassandra calyculata, Don. — Leaves oblong, mucronate, paler and scurfy beneath, the 

 floral ones oval; flowers in the axils of the upper leaves, small, white ; calyx-lobes ovate, 

 acute. Varies with the leaves and calyx-lobes narrower, when it is the Andromeda 

 angustifolia of Pursh. (Chapman's Flora of the Southern I T nited Slates. See also Gray's 

 Manual of the Botany of the Southern United States, and Wood's Class-Bool; of Botany.) 



HE natural order Ericacea, to which Cassandra belongs, 

 is so called from Erica, or the well-known Heath of 

 Europe and the Cape of Good Hope. It was for a long time 

 believed that no true Heath was a native of the American con- 

 tinent. A distinguished botanist of the past age, Barton, wrote : 

 " Not a single species of Erica is to be met with in this great 

 country; but in place of the 'blooming heather,' Nature has 

 liberally supplied our country with various species of Andromeda, 

 Vaccinium, etc., not to mention other genera which are nearly 

 allied to Erica" Since Barton's time, however, one true Heath 

 has been discovered in the Northeast in a very few localities ; 

 but it is so rare that Barton's remark may be accepted as prac- 

 tically correct. The species now called Cassandra, as well as 

 several other genera, were all included in Andromeda in Bartons 

 time; but in 1834, this latter genus was rearranged by D. Don. 

 Those, therefore, who wish to examine closely the literature of 

 our plant will have to look for it under the name of Andromeda 

 calyculata in all works issued prior to the date just mentioned. 

 Don's divisions are generally accepted now by botanists, although 

 some of them have very few species. In the case of our plant, 

 there is but the single one, although two are generally described 



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