FLOWERING SHRUBS 



a dark myrtle-green, revolute at the edges, whitish beneath, 

 unequally distributed along the stem. The deep crimson 

 smooth oval berries are collected by the squaws and sold at 

 a high price in the fall of the year. 



There are extensive tracts of low sandy swampy flats in 

 various portions of Canada, covered with a luxuriant growth 

 of low Cranberries. These spots are known as Cranberry 

 Marshes, and are generally overflowed during the spring; 

 many interesting and rare plants are found in these marshes, 

 with mosses and lichens not to be found elsewhere, low 

 evergreens of the Heath family, and some rare plants belong- 

 ing to the Orchidacese, such as the beautiful Grass Pink 

 (Calopogon pulchellus) and Calypso borealis. 



Not only is the fruit of the Low-bush Cranberry in great 

 esteem for tarts and preserves, but it is thought to possess 

 valuable medicinal properties, having been long used in can 

 cerous affections as an outward application. The berries in 

 their uncooked state are acid and powerfully astringent. 



There are two species of these low-growing Cranberries 

 found in our peat-bogs and swamps, one larger in all its 

 parts than the other, with the berries paler in colour and of 

 better quality. This is Vaccinium macrocarpon. 



This fruit is successfully cultivated for the market in 

 many parts of the Northern States of America, and is said 

 to repay the cost of culture in a very profitable manner. 



The Cranberry belongs to one of the sub-orders of the 

 BTeath family (Ericaceae), nor are its delicate pink-tinted 

 flowers less beautiful than many of the exotic plants of that 

 order, which we rear with care and pains in the greenhouse 

 and conservatory; yet, growing in our midst as it were, few 

 persons that luxuriate in the rich preserve that is made 

 from the ripe fruit have ever seen the elegant trailing-plant, 

 with its graceful blossoms and myrtle-like foliage. 



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