1084 ARBORETUM AND FRUT1CETUM. PART III, 



GENUS III. 



CALLITNA Sal. THE CALLUNA. Lin. Syst. Octandria Monogynia. 



Identification. Salisbury in Lin. Soc. Trans., 6. p. 317.; Don's Mill, 3. p. 828. 



Synonymcs. J?rlca sp. Lin. anil others. 



Derivation. The name of Callilna is derived from kalluno, which, as Sir J. E Smith observes, " is 

 doubly suitable; whether, with Mr. Salisbury and Dr. Hull, we take it to express a cleansing pro- 

 perty, brooms being made of ling ; or whether we adopt the more common sense of the word, 

 to ornament or adorn, which is very applicable to the flowers." (Eng. Flora, 2. p. 224.) 



!U 1. C. vULGVms Sal. The common Ling, or Heather. 



Identification. Salisb. in Lin. Soc. Trans., 6. p. 317. ; Smith Eng. Flora, 2. p. 224. ; Don's Mill., 3. 



p. 828. 

 Synonymes. Erica. vulgSris Lin. Sp., p. 501. ; la Bruydre, Fr. ; Heide, Ger. ; Lyng, Dan. ; Liung, 



Suied. ; Erica, Hal. ; Brezo, Span. ; Urze, Port. ; Weresk, Russ. 

 Engraving. Eng. Bot, t. 1013. 



Spec. Char., fyc. Leaves 3-cornered in a transverse section of them, arrow- 

 shaped at the base, obtuse at the point, revolute in the lateral margins, im- 

 bricate in 4 rows. Flowers disposed in long, terminal, spicate racemes. 

 (Don's Mitt., iii. p. 828.) A small, spreading, evergreen shrub ; native 

 throughout Europe, plentiful in Britain. 



Varieties. In Don's Miller, the following forms of this species are enu- 

 merated : 



JU C. v. \ purpiirca. Flowers purplish red. 



JU C. v. 2 spuria. Branches tufted. Racemes short. Flowers pur- 

 plish red. 

 JU C. v. 3 decumbens. Branches decumbent. Racemes short. Flowers 



purplish red*. 

 JU C. v. 4 tomentosa. Leaves and branches woolly. Flowers purplish 



red. 



u C. v. 5 alba. Flowers white, less crowded. Corolla shorter. 

 JU C. v. Qfiore pleno. Flowers double, pale purplish red. 

 JU C. v. 7 fdliis variegdtis. Leaves variegated. Flowers purplish. 

 JU C. v. 8 aurea. Leaves variegated with yellow. 

 JU C. v. 9 coccinea. Flowers deep red. 

 JU C. v. 10 spicdta. Racemes long. Flowers red or white. 

 JU C. v. 11 and 12. Two varieties are mentioned by Sir W. J. Hooker, 

 as being in cultivation in the Glasgow Botanic Garden, where they 

 have retained their differences for years. They have both pubes- 

 cent branchlets ; but the one has deep red flowers, and was received 

 from Aberdeenshire; and the other, which was received from Arran, 

 has white flowers, that appear later than those of the other varieties. 

 The first may be called C. v. 11 dtro-riibens, and the second C. v. 12 

 serotina. 



Description, $c. The common heath varies considerably in size, according 

 to the soil and situation in which it grows. In open, elevated, exposed 

 moors, where there is scarcely any surface soil, it seldom exceeds 1 ft. in 

 height ; but in sandy soils, in open woods, it often reaches the height of 3 ft. 

 or 4 ft., growing erect. On the sides of mountains, in Scotland and Ireland, it 

 sometimes forms a bed or close matting of recumbent or trailing steins, which 

 are 3ft. or 4 ft. in length ; the bed extending for many miles together. The 

 stems are bushy, and are repeatedly and irregularly branched. The plant is 

 of slow growth, seldom making shoots longer than Sin. or 4 in. in one season, 

 even when young ; and, when of 5 or 6 years' growth, not more than half that 

 length : but it is of great duration. 



Geography. The common heath abounds in almost every part of Europe, 



