ERICACEAE. LII. VACCINIUM. 



855 



lanceolate, acute, serrulated, smooth on both surfaces, except 

 the mid-rib ; stamens nearly as long as the bell-shaped corolla, 

 with smooth slightly fringed filaments ; calyx 5-lobed. 1? . F. 

 Native of Madeira, on the loftiest part of the island, where it 

 forms impenetrable thickets. V. arctostaphylos, Andr. bot. rep. 

 t. 30. Curt. bot. mag. 974. V. Maderense, Link. enum. 1. 

 p. 375. Corollas larger than those of the preceding, pale green, 

 with a purple tinge ; sometimes it appears to be all over purple 

 externally. The Caucasian plant, discovered by Pallas, is said 

 not to differ from that of Madeira. Pallas says the berries are 

 black, juicy, eatable, and gratefully acid ; and he sometimes found 

 the flowers 4- cleft. 



Bird-cherry-leaved Bear's Grape. Fl. June, Aug. Clt. 1777. 

 Shrub 6 to 10 feet. 



31 V. CYLINDRA'CEUM (Smith, in Rees' cycl. no. 23.) racemes 

 lateral ; bracteas serrated, all at the base of the pedicels ; leaves 

 elliptic-lanceolate, acute, serrulated, quite smooth, except the 

 base of the mid-rib ; stamens half the length of the cylindrical 

 corolla, with hairy filaments ; calyx slightly 5-toothed. fj . H. 

 Native of the Azores, on the mountains, where it is called Uva 

 de Serra, or Mountain-berry. Apparently arborescent. Branches 

 downy on the opposite sides. Racemes numerous, rising from 

 the wood of the preceding year. Flowers drooping, nearly an 

 inch long, apparently red or purple. 



Cylindrical flowered Bear's Grape. Shrub or tree. 



32 V. LEDIFO'LIUM (Pohl, pi. bras. 2. p. 36. t. 123.) racemes 

 axillary and terminal, loose, downy ; flowers unilateral ; leaves 

 sessile, linear, attenuated at the base, ciliated, glabrous above, 

 but yellowish-brown beneath, with the nerves downy, (j . G. 

 Native of Brazil, in the province of Minas Geraes, on the 

 higher mountains, in dry places. Stem dark, hoary. Leaves 

 deciduous. Bracteas of two forms, acute, ciliated. Corolla 

 white, glabrous, having the teeth reflexed. 



Ledum-leavcd Whortle-berry. Shrub 1 foot. 



2. Leaves evergreen. 

 * Flowers racemose. 



33 V. MERIDIONA'LE (Swartz. fl. ind. occ. p. 676.) racemes 

 erect, downy ; bracteas coloured, solitary, ovate, at the base of 

 the pedicels ; leaves ovate, crenated, smooth ; stem arboreous. 

 fy . G. Native of Jamaica, on the Blue Mountains. Tree with 



a very straight trunk and hard wood. Branches downy when 

 young. Leaves 1 inch long. Flowers drooping, reddish-white. 

 Corollas ovate, quadrangular before expansion, contracted at the 

 mouth, with 4 acute, recurved segments. Stamens 8, as long as 

 the corolla : their filaments hairy in the middle. Berries round- 

 ish, juicy, pleasantly flavoured, pale red, resembling those of 

 V. vltis-idce'a. The flowers are rarely 5-cleft, and decan- 

 drous. Racemes rising from the top of the wood of the preced- 

 ing year. 



Southern Whortle-berry. Fl. March, June. Clt. 1778. Tree 

 10 to 30 feet. 



34 V. CONFE'RTUM (H. B. et Kunth, nov. gen. amer. 3. p. 

 265. t. 250.) racemes axillary, solitary, short, sessile, drooping, 

 about equal in length to the leaves ; leaves ovate elliptic, blunt- 

 ish, crenulated, coriaceous, glabrous ; flowers decandrous ; an- 

 thers mutic. fj . H. Native of Mexico, on high mountains 

 near Moran and Cerro de Oyamel. Branchlets angular, gla- 

 brous. Leaves 5-6 lines long, beset with scattered, brown, minute 

 dots beneath. Pedicels bibracteate at the base. Corolla cam- 

 panulate, white, with ovate, acute, recurved segments. 



Crowded-leaved Whortle-berry. Shrub 1 foot. 



FIG. 142. 



35 V. FLORIBU'NDUM (H. B. 

 et Kunth, nov. gen. amer. 3. p. 

 266. t. 251.) racemes terminal 

 and axillary, drooping, much 

 longer than the leaves ; leaves 

 oblong, acute, coriaceous, gla- 

 brous, crenulated ; flowers oc- 

 tandrous and decandrous ; an- 

 thers mutic. fj . G. Native of 

 Peru, on the mountains near 

 Caxamarca. Branchlets angu- 

 lar, downy. Leaves 6-7 lines 

 long, besprinkled with a few 

 black dots beneath. Corolla 

 campanulate, white, having a 

 quadrifid or quinquefid limb, 

 with oval bluntish segments. 

 Flowers about the size of those 



of V. vitis-idce'a. Filaments membranous, ciliated. Racemes 

 approximate at the tops of the branches, bracteate (f. 142.) 

 Bundle-flowered Whortle-berry. Shrub. 



36 V. IEUCA'NTHUM (Cham, in Linnaea. 7. p. 524.) arbore- 

 ous ; branches angular, sometimes downy ; leaves coriaceous, on 

 short petioles, oval-lanceolate, acute, glandularly serrated, hav- 

 ing the petioles and mid-rib downy above, the rest glabrous ; 

 racemes secund, rising from the branches of the preceding year, 

 leafless ; flowers drooping ; corollas urceolately campanulate ; 

 anthers biaristate. ^ . F. Native of Mexico, below St. Sal- 

 vador. Flowers white. Fruit black and edible. Nearly allied 

 to V. Meridionale. 



White-flowered Whortle-berry. Shrub. 



37 V. CARACCASA'NUM (H. B. et Kunth, nov. gen. amer. 3. p. 

 266.) racemes axillary, twice longer than the leaves ; flowers 

 secund, octandrous or decandrous ; leaves elliptic, acute, crenu- 

 lated, coriaceous, glabrous, shining above ; anthers biaristate on 

 the back. T; H. Native on the southern declivity of Mount 

 Silla de Caraccas. Branchlets angular, glabrous. Leaves shin- 

 ing above, 9-10 lines long. Racemes crowded at the tops of 

 the branches. Corolla campanulate, glabrous, reddish-white, 

 with a 4-5-parted limb ; segments ovate, acutish. Filaments 

 membranous, ciliated. 



Caraccas Whortle-berry. Fl. May, June. Clt. 1825. Shrub. 



38 V. VITIS-ID^A (Lin. spec. 500.) racemes terminal, droop- 

 ing, with ovate concave bracteas, which are longer than the 

 pedicels ; leaves obovate, revolute, minutely toothed, dotted be- 

 neath ; corolla bell-shaped. Tj . H. Native of dry, barren, 

 stony woods and heaths in the north of Europe ; plentiful in 

 Scotland, Westmoreland, Derbyshire, and Wales. Mr. Pursh 

 says it occurs on rocks near the sea-coast, from Canada to New 

 England ; but the American plant is more robust than the Euro- 

 pean, with considerably larger leaves. Lodd. bot. cab. 616. 

 It has also been found in the islands of Kamtschatka, Una- 

 laschka, and St. Lawrence. Smith, engl. bot. 598. Fl. dan. 

 t. 40. Lodd. bot. cab. 1023. Vitis-idae'a rubra, Cam. 

 epit. 136. Root creeping, woody. Stems ascending a span 

 high ; young branches terete, downy. Leaves like those of box, 

 but darker. Flowers pale pink, 4-cleft, octandrous. Anthers 

 without spurs. Berries blood-red, acid, austere, and bitter, less 

 palatable in tarts than either the Cranberry or Bilberry, but ex- 

 cellent in a rob or jelly, for colds and sore throats, as well as to 

 eat with roast meat ; to which latter purpose this jelly is univer- 

 sally applied by the Swedes, and forms a sauce to venison which 

 is thought superior to currant jelly. In Wales it is used with 

 roast mutton. It may be cultivated in a moist shady border of 

 bog-earth, like the Bleaberry. 



