1126 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART 111. 



. -2. G. SHA'LLON Pursh. The Shallon Gaultheria. 



Identification. 1'ursh Fl. Amer. Sept., 1. p. 283. ; Don's Mill., 3. p. 839. ; Lodd. Cat., cd. 1SK 

 JZneravines. Pursh Fl. Amer. Sept., 1. fig. ; Hook. Bot. Mag., t. 2845. ; Lindl. Bot. Reg., t. 1411. ; 

 Lodd. Bot. Cab., 1. 1372.; and our^. cjjg. 



Spec. C7iar. t fyc. Procumbent, hairy on the stems. Leaves ovate, subcorclate, ser- 

 rated, glabrous on both surfaces. Racemes secund, bracteate, clothed with 

 rusty down. Branches warted, clothed 

 with rusty down when young. Leaves 

 broad, abruptly acuminated. Pedicels 

 scaly. Corolla white, tinged with red, 

 downy, urceolate, with a closed limb. 

 Berries globose, acute, fleshy, purple. 

 This plant grows in the shade of close pine 

 forests, where hardly any thing else will 

 thrive, which makes it a very desirable 

 shrub for plantations. The berries of 

 the shallon are much esteemed by the 

 natives, on account of their agreeable 



flavour. (Don's Mill., iii. p. 837.) It was introduced in 1826, and is a 

 native of North America, on the Falls of the Columbia, and near the 

 Western Ocean. In British gardens, this plant is as hardy as if it were 

 indigenous. It grows to the height of 2 ft. or 3 ft. in sandy peat, or even 

 in sandy loam, in 3 or 4 years producing abundance of fruit, which forms 

 excellent food for partridges, and may be used in tarts. In the North 

 of England, and in Scothmd, it has already been planted as undergrowth 

 in artificial plantations, and in belts, clumps, and thickets in parks, for the 

 sake of the shelter and food which it affords for game. It thrives in the 

 immediate vicinity of London, growing luxuriantly in the Hackney ar- 

 boretum. 



A pp. i. Half-liar dy Species of Gaultheria. 



G.fragrantissima Wall. (Don's Mill., 3. 840.), G. fragrans D. Don, ,4'rbutus /aurifolia Hamil., is 

 an evergreen shrub, a native of Nepal, at Narainhetty ; with leaves coriaceous, reticulately veined ; 

 from 2 in. to 4 in. long ; with corollas oblong, silky, pale red, and very sweet-scented. It was intro- 

 duced in 1824, but we have not seen a plant. 



App. ii. Hardy and half-hardy Species of Gaultheria., not yet 

 introduced. 



G.nummularioldes D. Don Prod. Fl. Nep., p. 150., Don's Mill., 3. p. 839., is a native of the alps 

 of Nepal, where it forms a much-branched procumbent shrub, with filiform branches, cordate leaves, 

 and small flowers, on very short axillary pedicels. 



G. ciliata Cham, et Schlecht. in Linnaea, 5. p. 126., Don's Mill., 3. p. 839., is a glabrous shrub, 

 with coriaceous lanceolate leaves, sharply serrated ; a native of Mexico, on Mount Orizaba, along 

 with Sol&num tuberosum. The leaves are half an inch long, the flowers white, and the berries 

 black. 



Several other species are described in Don's Miller, as natives of different parts of South America 

 and Nepal ; and as requiring the green-house or stove. 



GENUS XVII. 



EPIGJE V A L. THE EPIG^EA. Lin. Syst. Decandria Monogynia. 



Identification. Lin. Gen., No. 550. ; Schreb. Gen., No. 240. ; Nutt. Gen. Amer., 1. p. 2G9. ; Don's 



Mill., 3. p. 841. 



Synonymes. 3/emcylum Mich. Gen., 13. ; May Flower, Nova Scotia. 

 Derivation. From epi, upon, and gaia, the earth ; the plant creeps upon the surface of the 



earth. 



Description. Creeping, tufted, evergreen shrubs, with fragrant flowers in 

 dense, axillary, and terminal racemes ; natives of North America. 



