HEATH BEABBEEBY. 187 



The one British member of the Ling family has fully as 

 much share as the Erica in the useful purposes we have 

 mentioned. Our peasants about the moor districts thatch with 

 Ling and Heath together, make brooms of the Ling, and what 

 we call " pan-scrubbers " that is, a little tight bundle cut stiff 

 and square at both ends, which is a very useful scullery article. 

 Ling is also used by them for fuel, and the grouse feed upon it 

 (CalMna vulgaris). It is a shrubby plant, with very small 

 leaves, and numbers of tiny, bell-shaped, purple flowers, with 

 crimson calices. It blooms in August. 



The third family in the Heath tribe is the Menziesia, of 

 which there are two members. 



The Scotch Menziesia (Menziesia coerulea), has its purple 

 blooms in a cluster. The flowers are larger than those of the 

 Heaths. Sir J. E. Smith speaks of it as a rare inhabitant of 

 Perthshire, and recent explorers declare it to have been entirely 

 removed by an Edinburgh nurseryman. 



The Irish Menziesia, or St. Dabeoc's Heath (M. polifolia), is 

 a very elegant plant. The large crimson pitcher-shaped blos- 

 soms hang separately from different sides of the stem. It 

 grows on some of the Irish mountains, but my specimen is 

 from a garden. 



The Trailing Azalea (Azalea procumbens), is a Scotch plant, 

 but I have not got a native specimen. Mine was gathered on the 

 Niesen, a mountain near Thun, in Switzerland. It is a creep- 

 ing plant, with woody stems, much branched, and dwarfish. 

 The leaves are opposite, and rolled back at the edges, and the 

 flowers are reddish. The number of stamens in this family is five. 



The Marsh Andromeda (A. polifolia), is also a prostrate 

 bush, with narrow alternate leaves, lined with white, and 

 clusters of elegant bell-shaped flowers. My specimen was 

 given me by Mr. Ward, of Richmond. 



The Bearberry family is the last in the Heath tribe. 



The Hed Bearberry (Arbutus uva-ursi), I have only seen in 

 the Botanical Gardens of Edinburgh. The stems are woody, 



