Wanderings of a Naturalist 



are frequently buried, while still at their best, beneath the 

 first early winter snowfall. Frequently I have noticed, while 

 on the high hills in winter with only a few inches of snow 

 on the ground, that at almost every step I crushed some 

 bearberries underfoot, their juice appearing through the snow 

 and staining it red. 



A plant little known on the hills is the great bilberry 

 {Vaccinium uliginosum). The stems, unlike those of the 

 blaeberry (or bilberry as it is known in the south), are stout 

 and woody, and the leaves are more glaucous in colour than 

 those of the common blaeberry. The great bilberry does not 

 seem to be found so near the sea level as the common variety, 

 nor does it reach to such great heights. Its berries, too, 

 are smaller and of a more bitter taste. I have only exception- 

 ally seen it bearing fruit on the Cairngorm Hills. 



Perhaps of all the hill berries the crowberry {Empetrum 

 nigrum) is the most alpine. It is extremely hardy, and seems 

 impervious to cold winds and frosts. The leaves are small 

 and of a dark colour, and are very zerophytic — that is, 

 drought-withstanding. The flower is barely noticeable, but 

 the berries are of almost similar size to those of the blaeberry, 

 only black and sour to the taste. The shoots of the crow- 

 berry are eaten in winter by the ptarmigan, and probably 

 the berries also. 



The true cranberry, as distinct from the cowberry, which, 

 curiously enough, everywhere in Scotland usurps its name, 

 is known to scientists as V. oxycoccus. It is comparatively 

 rare, and in its habit prostrate, resembling the bearberry 

 rather than Vaccinium vitis idoea. Its berries are more trans- 

 parent and inclined to yellow rather than red, and it grows 

 mainly on boggy ground. 



A plant widely different from any of those mentioned 

 above is the cloudberry — or avern (sometimes spelt avron) — 

 {Rubus chamoemorus). It is in its habits comparatively local, 

 but is usually found on or near boggy ground. I have seen 

 it on the Cairngorms well over 3,000 feet up, but here it is 



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