236 Pink to Red Flowers 



recurved axillary stalks, which bear the blossoms, become 

 upright in fruit and thus hold erect the large, sweet, purple- 

 black berries, which have no bloom. 



V actinium cccspitosum, or Dwarf Bilberry, grows only 

 from three to seven inches high, and has many little fine 

 branches thickly covered with leaves, which are obovate, 

 blunt, thickly serrulate and bright green on both sides. 

 The stem-branches bear numerous tiny, bell-shaped, pinkish 

 or white flowers, with the calyx' five-toothed and about ten 

 stamens. These in time turn to sweet blue berries, covered 

 with a rich bloom, and so large as to be out of all propor- 

 tion to the plant. 



V actinium Vitis-Idcea, or Mountain Bilberry, has crowded 

 oval emarginate leaves. The most remarkable feature of 

 this low, creeping, evergreen shrub is that it has numerous 

 black bristly 'dots beneath the leaves. The clusters of tiny, 

 waxen, pink bells grow on erect branches, which spring 

 from the creeping stems and attain to a height of about 

 eight inches. The berries are dark red and very acid. 



Vaccinium erythrococcum, or Alpine Bilberry, has erect 

 stems with numerous slender strict branches and branchlets. 

 The leaves are ovate or oval and a lovely bright green, while 

 the pink five-lobed flowers are solitary in the axils of the 

 leaves. The berries are small and bright red. Vaccinium 

 is the name by which classical writers have referred to some 

 plant whose identity is lost to us, and even when it was 

 given to the present genus of this name there is reason to 

 believe that it was originally spelt B actinium, meaning a 

 plant which produces berries. Bilberry was no doubt for- 

 merly Bellberry or Hillberry, just as Blaeberry is only the 

 Scottish pronunciation of Blueberry. 



Vaccinium Oxycoccus, or Small Cranberry, is a creeping 



