XLIII. RICA CEJE : ^RCTOSTA PHYLOS. 



577 



in panicles that are terminal and composed of approximate racemes. Pedi- 

 cels furnished with 3 bracteas at the base. Corolla oval, white. Filaments 

 dilated and pilose at the base. {Don's Mill.) A robust shrub or low tree. 

 Mexico, on the eastern declivities between La Plata and Xalapa. Height 

 20 ft.; in British gardens 5 ft. to 10 ft. Introduced in 1826. Flowers 

 white ; December. 



Other Species apparently hardy. A. speciosa Dickson, Gard. Mag. 1840, 

 p. 4. Leaves lanceolate, finely serrated, glaucous on the under side, and bright 

 green above. Probably a large bush or small tree. Mexico, 1837. Another 

 species, and also A. nepalensis Royle, have been raised in the H. S. Garden. 



Genus XV. 



Lin. Sj/ii, Decandria 



/IRCTOSTA'PHYLOS Adans. The Beakberry. 



Monogynia. 



Icentification. Adans. Fam. ; Don's Mill., 3. p. 83.'). 

 Si/noni/mcs. UNa-iirsi Dod., Tourn. ; ^'rbutus sp. Lin. 

 Derivation. From arktos, a bear, and staphule, a grape. 



Gtn. Char. Calyx 5-[)arted. Corolla globose or ovate-campanulate ; limb 

 5-cleft, reflexed. Stamens 10, enclosed ; filaments dilated at the base, and 

 pilose. Anthers compressed at the sides, dehiscing by two pores at the 

 apex, fixed by the back beneath the middle, where they are furnished with 

 two reflexed horns. Ovarium seated on the hypogynous disk, or half- 

 immersed in it, usnallj' 3-celled, rarely 6 9-celled ; cells 1-seeded. Styles 1 

 Stigma obtuse. Drupe nearly globose. (Don's Mill.) 

 Leaves simple, alternate, exstipulate, evergreen or deciduous ; entire 

 ' or serrated. Flowers in terminal racemes, pedicellate bracteate. Corollas 

 i white or flesh-coloured. Drupes red or black. Shrubs or subshrubs, 

 , deciduous or evergreen, low or trailing ; natives of Euroj)e or America. 



i *~ 1. ^. UVa-u'rsi Spreng. The common Bearberry. 



I !''cntificiition. Spreng. Syst., 2. p. 827. ; Don's Mill., 3. p. 83.5. 



Syno)iyvies. //'rbutus U'va-ursi Liri. Sp. 566.; /i'rbutus iuxifblia Stakes Bot. 509.; U'va-ursi 

 6uxiR)lia Sal. in Gray's Arr. 2. p. 400. ; Bearberries, and Bear-whortleberries, g. ; Baren- 

 i traube, or Barenheere, Ger. ; Beerenduuif, Dutch; la Basserole, Fr. ; Uva d'Orzo, Ital.; Uva 

 ' de Oso, Spa7t. ; Uva de Urso, Fort. ; and Uva Ursi in the works of most old botanists. 

 [Engravings. Engl. Bot., t. 714. ; Schmidt Baum., t. 138.; and our fig. XOi'l. 



Spec. Char., ^c. Stems procumbent. Leaves per- 

 manent, obovate, quite entire, coriaceous, shining, 



' resembling those of the common box. Flowers 



' fasciculate' ; pale red, or white with a red mouth ; 



I growing in small clusters at the extremities of 



; the branches. Drupe 5-celled. (Don's Mill.) /" 

 A trailing evergreen shrub. Canada and New 



England in locky situations, and in the Island of 

 Unalasclia ; also in the middle of Europe ; and 



; upon dry heathy mountains throughout the Hii^h- 

 lands and Western Isles of Scotland. Height 1 il. ; 



, trailing stems 2 ft. to 4 ft. Flowers pale red ; May and June, 

 red ; ripe in September. 



Variety, 



i^ A. U. 2 austriaca Lodd. Leaves somewhat larger than those of 

 the species. 



: The berries are filled with an austere mealy pulp, and serve as food for 

 ;rouse and other birds in Britain ; and in Sweden, Russia, and America, they 

 orm a principal part of the food of bears. The whole plant is powerfully 

 astringent : it abounds in the tannin principle ; and, both in Sweden and 



p p 



1087. .i. IJ^ia-iirsi. 



Berries 



