ERICACEAE. (HEATH FAMILY.) 259 



21. L.EIOPHtfl.L.TJUI, Pers. SAND MYRTLE. 



Calyx 5-partcd. Corolla of 5 distinct obovate-oblong petals, spreading. Sta- 

 mens 10, exserted : anthers opening lengthwise. Pod 2-3-cellcd, splitting from 

 the apex downward, many-seeded. A low much-branched evergreen, with the 

 aspect, foliage, &c. of the preceding genus, but the crowded leaves often alter- 

 nate, scarcely petioled. Flowers small, white, in terminal umbel-like clusters. 

 (Name from Xeios, smooth, and <j>v\\ov, foliage, in allusion to the smooth and 

 shining leaves.) 



1. It. blixifolilliil, Ell. Sandy pine barrens of New Jersey, and 

 mountain-tops in Virginia 1 and southward. May. Shrub 6'-10' high, with 

 the oval or oblong leaves ' - ' long. 



SUBORDER III. PYliOLEJB. THE PYROLA FAMILY. 



22. PYROJLA, L. FALSE WINTERGREEN. 



Calyx 5-parted, persistent. Petals 5, concave and more or less converging, 

 deciduous. Stamens 10 : filaments awl-shaped, naked : anthers turned out- 

 wards and inverted in the bud, soon erect, opening by 2 pores at the scarcely 

 (if at all) 2-horned apex, more or less 4-celled. Style long and generally turned 

 to one side : stigmas 5, either projecting or confluent with the ring or collar 

 which surrounds them. Pod depressed-globose, 5-lobed, 5-celled, 5-valved from 

 the base upwards (loculicidal) ; the valves cobwebby on the edges. Seeds mi- 

 nute, innumerable, resembling saw-dust, with a very loose cellular-reticulated 

 coat. Low and smooth perennial herbs, with running subterranean shoots, 

 bearing a cluster of rounded and petioled evergreen root-leaves, and a simple 

 raceme of nodding flowers, on an upright scaly-bracted scape. (Name a dimin- 

 utive of Pyrus, the Pear-tree, from some fancied resemblance in the foliage, 

 which is not obvious.) 



* Stamens ascending : style declining and curved, at length longer than the petals 



stigmas narrow, soon exserted beyond the ring: leaves denticulate or entire. 

 1. P. roliimliioli;!, L. (ROUND-LEAVED PYROLA.) Leaves orbicu- 

 lar, thick, shining, usually shorter than the petiole; raceme elongated, many- 

 flowered ; calyx-lobes lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, acutish, with somewhat spread- 

 ing tips, one half or one third the length of the roundish-obovate nearly spreading 

 (chiefly white) petals; anther-cells scarcely pointed at the apex. Damp or sandy 

 woods; common, especially northward. June, July. Scape 6' -12' high, 

 many-bracted : flowers \' broad. Exhibits many varieties, such as Var. 

 INCARNATA, with flesh-colored flowers; calyx-lobes triangular-lanceolate. 

 Var. ASARIF6LIA, with oblate or round-reniform leaves, and triangular-ovate 

 calyx-lobes of about \ the length of the white or flesh-colored petals. (P. asari- 

 folia, Michx.) Common northward. Var. ULIGIN6SA, with roundish-oval or 

 somewhat kidney-shaped smaller leaves (!'-!' wide), and ovate acute calyx- 

 lobes the length of the reddish or purple petals ; flowers rather smaller, few or 

 several. (P. uliginosa, Ton. fr Gr.) Cold bogs, N. New England to Wiscon. 

 in, and northward. (Eu.) 



