CHAP. LXIX. A'IUCA*CE/E. y/RCTOSTA'pHYLOS. 



GENUS XIV. 



E 



/niCTOSTA'PHYLOS Adan*. THE BEARBERRV. Lin. St/st. Decandria 



Monogynia. 

 Mcnlijicatlon. Gall. Adans. Fam. ; H. B. et Kunth Nov. Gen. Amer., 3. p. 277. ; Sprcng. Syst., '2. 



Synonymes. U'va-tirsi Dod., Tourn. ; ^'rbutua sp. Lin. 

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



Description. Evergreen undershrubs, natives of Europe and of North and 

 South America. 



*~1. A. U'VA-U'RSI Spreng. The common Bearberry. 



Identification. Spreng. Syst., 2. p. 827. ; Don's Mill., 3. p. 835. 



Synonymes. Arbutus U'va-ursi Lin. Sp., 566., Fl. Lapp., No. 162., t. 6. f. 3., Woodv. Med. Bot., 

 194.1.70., Fl. Dan., t.33., Black iv., t 592., Smith Eng.Bot.,lU.\ -d'rbutus iuxifblia Stokes Bot., 

 509. ; U'va-firsi ftuxiftlia Sal. in Gray's Arr. t 2. p. 400. ; Bearberries, and Bear-whortle-berries, 

 Eng. ; Barentraube, or Barenbeere, Ger. ; Beerenduuif, Dutch. ; la Basserole, Fr. ; Uva d'Orzo, 

 Ital. ; Uva de Oso, Span. ; Uva de Urso, Port. ; and Uva-ursi in the works of most old botanists. 

 vgravings. Lin. Fl. Lapp., No. 162. t. 6. f. 3. ; Woodv. Med. Bot, 194. t. 70. ; Fl. Dan., t. 33. ; 

 Blackw., t 592. ; Engl. Bot , t. 714. ; Schmidt Baum., t. 138. ; and our fig. 923. 



Spec. Char., $c. Stems procumbent. Leaves permanent, obovate, quite 

 entire, coriaceous, shining. Flowers fasciculate. Drupe 5-celled. Leaves 

 like those of the common box. Flowers pale red, 

 or white with a red mouth, growing in small clusters 

 at the extremities of the branches. (Don's Mill., iii. 

 p. 836.) A trailing shrub, a native of North America, 

 in the pine barrens of New Jersey, in mountains and 

 rocky situations of Canada and New England, and 

 in the Island of Unalascha. It is abundant on the 

 continent of Europe ; as, for example, in Sweden, 

 Denmark, and most parts of the north ; also in 

 Switzerland, Germany, Carniola, Dauphine, Savoy, 

 Siberia, &c. With us, it is common upon dry, heathy, mountainous, and 

 rocky places, throughout the Highlands and Western Isles of Scotland; 

 also in the north of England and Wales; flowering in May and June; 

 and producing red berries, which are ripe in September. The berries 

 are filled with an austere mealy pulp, and serve as food for grouse and 

 other birds in Britain ; and, in Sweden, Russia, and America, they form a 

 principal part of the food of bears. The whole plant is powerfully astrin- 

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

 it has been used for tanning leather, and dyeing it an ash-grey colour. It 

 is also prescribed by rural practitioners in nephritic complaints ; and, on 

 the plains of the Mississippi, it is smoked by the Indians as a febrifuge/ In 

 British gardens, it finds a place among other peat-earth plants ; and, though 

 a native of cold and elevated regions, it thrives well in peat, kept moist, in 

 the vicinity of London. 



-* 2. A. ALPI'NA Spreng. The Alpine Bearberry. 



identification. Spreng. Syst., 2. p. 287. ; Don's Mill., 3. p. 836. 



Synonyme. Arbutus alplna Lin. Sp.,566., (Ed. Fl. Dan., 73., Smith Engt. Bot., t. 2030., Lig/itf. 



Bngravigf, Engl. Bot, t. 2030. ; Lightf. Fl. Scot, 215. t. 11. f. a. b. 



Spec. Char., fyc. Stems procumbent. Leaves obovate, acute, wrinkled, ser- 

 rated, deciduous. Racemes terminal. Pedicels rather hairy. The flowers 

 grow in reflexed racemes, and are pure white. The berries are black when 

 ripe, and of the size of a sloe, with a taste somewhat resembling that of black 

 currants, but more mawkish; insomuch, that Linnreus says the Laplanders 

 will scarcely eat them. Haller, on the contrary, thinks the flavour not 



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