Minnesota Plant Life. 



355 



from the axils of the leaves. The flowers are white and nod- 

 ding, and each matures a spherical capsule with a large number 

 of small seeds. No other plant in Minnesota resembles, in 

 general habit, this tiny shrub. 



Rosemarys. The rosemary, found in cold peat-bogs through- 

 out the northern part of the state, is a shrub one or two feet in 

 height, with few branches. The leaves are slender, willow- 

 shaped, darker above than those of the Kalmia, but with the 

 same white under sides and incurved margins. The flowers, 

 however, are nodding and vase-shaped, rather than erect! 

 spreading and bowl-shaped, as in the Kalmia. The capsule is 

 more nearly spherical than that of the Kalmia. 



Trailing arbutus. The trailing arbutus is a rare plant in 

 Minnesota, occurring, 

 however, near Duluth 

 and on the Kettle river 

 and in the valley of the 

 St. Croix. It is a pros- 

 trate, trailing, branching 

 shrub, with alternate, ob- 

 long, leathery, evergreen, 

 entire leaves. The blos- 

 soms are pink, borne in 

 clusters toward the ends 

 of the branches. They 

 are sweet-scented and mature into spherical, furry, five-cham- 

 bered capsules. 



Checkerberries. The checkerberry, an abundant plant in 

 the pine woods throughout the northern part of the state 

 rarely extending, also, as far south as Lake Pepin is a little 

 shrub with slender, prostrate or underground stems, from which 

 erect branches arise to a height of from two to six inches. Its 

 leaves are oval, slightly toothed, evergreen and shining, dark 

 above and paler beneath. The flowers nod in the axils of the 

 leaves and are white, broadly vase-shaped, and with five mar- 

 ginal teeth. The fruit is bright red and of a distinctive agreeable 

 flavor. This plant is also known in Minnesota as wintergreen 

 and partridgeberry. 



Bearberries. The bearberry, growing best on sandy soil, is 

 abundant through the northern part of the state and extends 



FIG. 170. Moss-plant. After Britten and Browi 



