

 ERICACEAE. 449 



baccate esculent, or at least innocent, yet the leaves of some (such as Bearberry) are used in 

 medicine, and others are reputed poisonous to cattle ; while the honey made from the blossoms 

 of Rhododendron and Azalea has from early times a bad reputation. Very many are prized in 

 cultivation for their showy flowers. 



SUBORDER I. VACCINIE^E. 



Corolla and stamens epigynous, i. e. raised to or near the summit of the ovary, 

 the calyx-tube being adnate. Fruit a berry, crowned with the vestiges of the calyx- 

 teeth. Shrubby plants, with scaly leaf-buds. To this belong the Huckleberries 

 of the Atlantic States, the Blueberries, Bilberries, and Cranberries, all of the genus, 



1. Vaccinium. Calyx 4 -5-toothed on the summit of the ovary. Stamens 8 or 10. Berry 



many-seeded. 



SUBORDER II. ERICINE^. 



Corolla gamopetalous, or rarely of distinct petals, and with the stamens hypo- 

 gynous, the calyx being free. Anthers introrse in the bud. Shrubby plants or 



small trees. 



* Fruit fleshy, a berry or a berry-like drupe : corolla 5-toothed, deciduous. 



2. Arbutus. Ovary 5-celled, many-ovuled. Berry many-seeded. 



a. Arctostaphylos. Ovary 5-10-celled, with a single ovule in each cell. Drupe 5-10- 

 seeded or by abortion fewer. 



* * Fruit a capsule enclosed within a fleshy calyx, seeming like a berry. 



4. Gaultheria. Corolla 5-toothed or 5-lobed. Ovary 5-celled, 5-lobed. 



* * * Fruit a naked capsule, the calyx remaining dry underneath. Corolla deciduous, 

 -f- Anthers with points or awns : capsule loculicidal. 



5. Leucothoe. Corolla with a narrowed 5-toothed orifice. Leaves petioled. 



6. Cassiope. Corolla open-campanulate, 5-lobed. Leaves scale-like or Heath-like, sessile, im- 



bricated. 



+ +- Anthers destitute of points, awns, or other appendages : capsule septicidal. 



++ Corolla gamopetalous : pedicels subtended by foliaceous or firm-coriaceous persistent bracts : 

 seeds with a close coat : leaves evergreen. 



7. Bryan thus. Leaves Heath -like. Corolla without pouches. 



8. Kalmia. Leaves broad. Corolla with 10 pouches holding the anthers. 



H- ++ Corolla gamopetalous : pedicels subtended by thin scarious bracts, forming a scaly bud, 



these deciduous when the flowers develop : seed-coat loose. 

 9. Menziesia. Corolla globular-campanulate, 4-toothed. Leaves deciduous. 



10. Rhododendron. Corolla funnelform or campanulate, 5-lobed. 



n- -n- -H- Corolla 5-petalous : seed-coat loose. 



11. Ledum. Leaves broad. Flowers in an umbel : scaly bracts deciduous. 



SUBORDER III. PYEOLE^. 



Corolla of 5 (rarely 4) distinct petals, and with the stamens hypogynous, the 

 calyx being free. Anthers extrorse in the bud, the pores downward, introrse in 

 the open flower, the pores upward. Seeds extremely numerous, with very loose 

 cellular and translucent coat, many times larger than the nucleus. Herbaceous or 

 nearly herbaceous and broad-leaved low perennials, one species leafless. 



12. Chimaphila. Flowers in a corymb or umbel on a leafy stem. Petals widely spreading. 



Style very short, top-shaped : stigma broad and orbicular, peltate. 



13. Moneses. Flower solitary on a scape. Petals widely spreading. Style straight : stigma 



5-rayed. 



1 4. Pyrola. Flowers in a raceme on a scape. Petals not widely spreading. Style long : stigma 



various. 



