836 ERICACEAE (HEATH FAMILY) 



19. CHAMAEDAPHNE Moench. Leather Leaf. Cassandra 



Calyx of 5 distinct acute sepals. Stamens 10 ; anther-cells tapering into a 

 tubular beak, awnless. Capsule depressed, 5-celled, many-seeded. Seeds flat- 

 tened, wingless. — Low and much branched shrubs, with nearly evergreen and 

 coriaceous leaves, which are scurfy, especially underneath. Flowers white, in 

 the axils of the upper small leaves, forming small 1-sided leafy racemes. (From 

 Xo-fJ^o-^1 <^'n the ground, and ddcpvT], laurel.) Cassandra D. Don. 



1. C. calyculata (L.) Moench. Leaves oblong, obtuse, flat. (Cassandra 

 I). Don.) — Bogs, Lab. to B. C, s. to Minn., Wi.sc, 111., and (ia. Apr., May. 

 (Eurasia.) 



20. OXYDENDRUM DC. Sorrel-tree. Sodr-wood 



Calyx of 5 almost distinct sepals, valvate in the bud. Corolla ovate, puberu- 

 lent. Stamens 10 ; anthers fixed near the base, linear, awnless, the cells taper- 

 ing upward. Capsule 5-celled, 5-valved ; the many-seeded placentae at the base 

 of the cells. Seeds slender, the thin and loose reticulated coat extended at both 

 ends into awl-shaped appendages. — A tree with deciduous oblong-lanceolate 

 pointed soon smooth serrulate leaves on slender petioles, and white flowers in 

 long one-sided racemes clustered in an open panicle, terminating the branches 

 of the season. Bracts and bractlets minute, deciduous. Foliage acid (whence 

 the name, from 6^vs, sour, and 5^u5pov, tree). 



1. 0. arbbreum (L.) DC. — Rich woods, from Pa. to Ind., and southw., 

 mostly along the Alleghenies, to Fla. and La. June, July. 



21. EPIGAEA L. Ground Laurel. Trailing Arbutus 



Corolla-tube hairy Inside, as long as the ovate-lanceolate scale-like nearly 

 distinct sepals. Stamens 10, with slender filaments ; anthers oblong. Style 

 slender, its apex (as in Pyrola) forming a sort of ring or cf^llar around and 

 partly adnate to the 5 little lobes of the stigma. Capsule depressed-globular, 

 5-lobed, 5-celled, many-seeded. — A prostrate or trailing scarcely shrubby plant, 

 bristly with rusty hairs, with evergreen and reticulated rounded and heart- 

 shaped alternate leaves on slender petioles, and with rose-colored flowers in 

 small axillary clusters, from scaly bracts. (Name composed of ^irt, upon., and 

 7^, the t'arth, from the trailing growth.) 



1. E. repens L. (Mayflower.) — Sandy woods, or in rocky soil, especially 

 in the shade of pines, Nfd. to Sask., Wise, Mich., Ky., and Fla. — Flowers 

 appearing in early spring, exhaling a rich spicy fragrance, dimorphous as to 

 style and stamens, and subdioecious. 



22. GAULTHERIA [Kalm] L. Aromatic Wintergreen 



Corolla cylindrical-ovoid or a little urn-shaped, 5-toothed. Stamens 10, in- 

 cluded. Capsule depressed, 5-lobed, 5-celled, 5-valved, many-seeded, inclosed 

 when ripe by the calyx, which thickens and turns fleshy, so as to appear as a 

 globular red berry ! — Shrubs, or almo.st herbaceous plants, with alternate ever- 

 green leaves and axillary nearly white flowers ; pedicels with 2 bractlets. (Dedi- 

 cated to Huf/ues Gaidtier — also spelled Gaidthier., Gauthier, and Gautier — 

 naturalist and court-physician at Quebec, in the middle of the 18th century.) 



1. G. procumbens L. (Tkabekkv, Checkerbeury.) Stems slender and 

 extensively creepin-j; on or below the surface ; the flowering branches ascending, 

 leafy at the suminit, ')-l-') cm. high ; leaves obovate or oval, ob.scurely serrate • 

 flowers few, mostly simple in the axils, nodding. — Woods and clearings, Nfd. to 

 Man., and southw. July, Aug. — The bright red berries (formed of the calyx) 

 and the foliage have the well known spicy-aromatic flavor of the Sweet Birch. 



