ERICE 



cultivation, are almost endless. All the species are 

 remarkable for their beauty, their elegance, or the 

 fantastic forms which they assume, and some are 

 prized for their perfume. The cultivation of them is 

 attended with a considerable degree of difficulty, but 

 they have been reared with great success in Britain. 

 They are propagated by cuttings and seeds, which 

 are planted in a peat soil, having a considerable mixture 

 of sand. They do not require a warm climate in 

 winter ; it is sufficient if they are protected from 

 frost. A great deal of light and air, and a regular 

 supply of water, are necessary for their vigorous 

 growth. 



Callcma vulgaris, common heather or ling, is abun- 

 dant on all the moors in this country. In the High- 

 lands the plant is put to many important uses. It is 

 extensively used for thatching cottages, and for making 

 brooms. The Highlanders frequently make their 

 beds with it, laying the root downwards and the top 

 upwards. It supplies materials for fuel, and for 

 making ropes, and is employed also for dyeing and 

 tanning. It forms an excellent edging for garden 

 plots, and bears clipping well. From its flowers bees 

 extract a large quantity of honey, which, although of 

 a dark colour, is remarkably wholesome and nutri- 

 tious. Heather affords shelter to many birds, and its 

 seeds form the principal food of grouse. For this 

 purpose the seed vessel is so constructed that the 

 seeds are preserved for a year, or longer. 



Arbutus, or Arctostaphylos itva ursi, red bearberry 

 or whortle-berry, is an evergreen trailing shrub, abun- 

 dant in the Highlands of Scotland, as well as in the 

 north of England and Ireland. It bears small red, 

 austere, and mealy berries, which are much eaten by 

 moor fowl. The leaves have a styptic bitterish taste, 

 and possess tonic, astringent, and diuretic properties. 

 They are used medicinally in calculous or gravelly 

 complaints, and in some diseases of the bladder. They 

 have also been recommended in dysentery, and in 

 consumption, combined with bark and opium. They 

 may be administered either in powder or in infusion. 

 The infusion made with cold water strikes a beautiful 

 blue with persulphate of iron, in consequence of the 

 large quantityof gallic acid which it contains. Be- 

 sides this acid, the leaves contain tannin, resin, gum, 

 extractive, woody matter, chlorophylle and water. 

 When digested with alcohol they form a green tinc- 

 ture, which is rendered turbid by water, and when 

 filtered passes through transparent and yellow, leaving 

 a green resin on the filter. In some parts of Russia 

 the plant is used for tanning. 



Arbutus, or Arctostaphi/los alpina, black bearberry, 

 is another indigenous plant of this order, found on 

 Ben Nevis, and many other Highland mountains. It 

 is a trailing shrub, with elliptical leaves, which become 

 in autumn of a fine red colour. The flowers are pale 

 rose-coloured, and are succeeded by black berries, 

 having something of the flavour of black currants. 



Arbutus unedo, strawberry tree, the arbutus of 

 Virgil, is a beautiful evergreen, indigenous about the 

 lakes of Killarney in Ireland. In Crete and the 

 Levant it becomes a bushy tree of very geat size. 

 From the beauty of its foliage this tree adds greatly to 

 the claims of the lake scenery of Killarney. It is now 

 a common ornament in our gardens, where it sometimes 

 attains the height of eighteen or twenty feet. In the 

 Botanic Garden of Edinburgh some specimens of the 

 plant may be seen, which, under the care of Mr. 

 Macnab, the able superintendent, have attained a size 



441 



and vigour scarcely equalled in this country. The 

 tree bears pale greenish-white flowers, which are 

 succeeded by red berries the size of cherries, and 

 resembling strawberries in appearance. The fruit, 

 which takes a year to ripen, is used as an article of 

 food in Ireland and the south of France. When 

 taken in too large a quantity it is said to act as a 

 narcotic. In Corsica an agreeable wine is prepared 

 from the berries. Several varieties of the plant are met 

 with in nurseries, one with deep red flowers, called 

 scarlet arbutus, another with double greenish flowers 

 and narrow leaves, and a third with entire leaves. 



Arbutus andrachne, oriental arbutus, and Arbutus 

 hybrida, mule arbutus, have also been introduced into 

 cultivation in Great Britain as ornamental shrubs. 



Andromeda is another genus of this order, of which 

 numerous species exist in America. Andromeda poli- 

 folia is found in marshy places in various parts of 

 Britain. It is a small evergreen shrub, with rose- 

 coloured drooping flowers, which are much concealed 

 by the leaves. It sometimes receives the name of 

 wild rosemary. Andromeda hypnoides is a moss-like 

 plant which covers great tracts of ground in the Lap- 

 land alps, producing showy red flowers. The shoots 

 of Andromeda ovafifolia have been known to poison 

 goats in Nepal. From one of the species a volatile 

 stimulating odoriferous oil is obtained which is used 

 by the Japanese for the cure of rheumatism. 



Rhododendron is a genus familiar to all on account 

 of the beautiful species which are commonly cultivated 

 in gardens. Rhododendron chrysanthum, yellow or 

 golden flowered rhododendron, is a small plant which 

 grows on the highest part of the snow covered moun- 

 tains of Siberia, and is employed as an article of 

 materia medica. Its leaves in powder or infusion, 

 from their soporific and narcotic effects, are used as 

 remedies in gout and rheumatism. In large doses 

 they produce vomiting and delirium. From the effects 

 produced by the infusion, it is called intoxicating tea 

 in Russia. In this country the plant is scarcely ever 

 employed now-a-days. Rhododendron Ponticum and 

 maximum possess poisonous properties. Rhododendron 

 ferrugineum and hirsutum are common on the high 

 mountains of Switzerland, and terminate woody vege- 

 tation as we ascend. They furnish fuel to the shep- 

 herds, and grouse are said to eat them. Rhododen- 

 dron Caucasium grows on the highest parts of Caucasus, 

 near the limits of perpetual snow. 



Azalea procumbcns is found plentifully on the sum- 

 mits of most of the Scottish highland mountains, and 

 abounds in the arctic regions. It is a low shrub, 

 with a woody stem and crowded leafy branches. It 

 has astringent properties. Azalea Pontica is a 

 poisonous species. The honey collected by bees 

 from the flowers of this plant is said to have poi- 

 soned some of the soldiers in the retreat of the ten 

 thousand through Pontus. 



Kalmias are beautiful peat-earth shrubs found 

 chiefly in America. Kalmia latifolia, a native of 

 Carolina and other parts of North America, grows on 

 rocks hanging over rivulets, and on the sides of barren 

 hills. It Is one of the most elegant shrubs, and is 

 prized both for the beauty of its foliage and the colour 

 of its flowers. Unfortunately its poisonous qualities 

 lessen in some degree the esteem which its beauty 

 claims. An ointment made of the powdered leaves^has 

 been used in some obstinate cutaneous affections. The 

 wood of the plant is hard, and well fitted for various 

 domestic purposes. The brown powder which adheres 



