48 THE WILD-FLOWERS OF SELBORNE 



is doubtless to be explained by the belief that its 

 presence caused mildew in wheat. Hence the bar- 

 berry was extirpated in many places, and has now 

 become extremely scarce. It was formerly known as 

 the Pipperidge-bush, that is, red-pip, a name descrip- 

 tive of the colour and character of its berries, which 

 were preserved in various ways. It is a curious fact 

 that the juniper, so abundant on many of the chalk 

 downs of Hampshire, as for instance about Petersfield, 

 should be absent from the flora of the Isle of Wight. 

 In former years juniper berries were far more commonly 

 used than now, especially for the purpose of flavouring 

 Hollands or gin. They were also generally employed 

 in the curing of hams, but for this purpose they are 

 now rarely sought after. 



Several species of the order Ericacece, or Heath 

 tribe, produce berries good for food. Of these the 

 best known are the bilberry and the cranberry. The 

 former, also known as whortleberries, are abundant in 

 Scotland and the north of England, and in certain 

 districts in the south, as about Hindhead, in Surrey. 

 Gilbert White recorded the plant as found on " the 

 dry hillocks of Wolmer Forest," where it still flourishes 

 in great abundance. The berries, known locally as 

 "whorts," make excellent tarts, for which purpose 

 they are annually gathered by the gipsies and country 

 people and sold in the neighbouring towns and villages. 

 The cranberry, a near relative of the whortleberry, is 

 found in peat bogs, and is a beautiful plant, with its 

 bright red flowers and evergreen leaves, the margins 

 of which are always rolled back, and its wiry stems 

 creeping over the sphagnum moss. In the south of 

 England the plant is rare, but the writer has found 

 it " in the bogs of Bin's Pond," near Selborne, where 



