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THE NATURE BOOK 



IVY-LEAVED BELL-FLOWEK. 



Few people that have seen a large tract 

 of country during August and September 

 with the Heather in full bloom, varied 

 with the lighter tints of patches of other 

 Heaths, will forget the wonderful colour- 

 ing effect ; there are few sights in Nature 

 more striking. 



CROSS-LEAVED HEATH 



The two common species of Bell-flowered 

 Heathers are the Scotch Heather {Erica 

 cinerea) and the Cross-leaved Heath (E. 

 Tetralix). There need be no difficulty in 

 distinguishing between them if the follow- 

 ing points are remembered. The Scotch 

 Heather has its leaves arranged in threes 

 along the stem, whereas in the Cross- 

 leaved Heath the leaves are in fours ; 

 again, in the former the flowers are of a 

 reddish-purple colour densely arranged 

 on the upper parts of the flowering stems, 

 whilst in the Cross-leaved Heath the 

 flowers are pink and in small clusters at 

 the extreme ends. Attached to the 

 ptjllen-bearing anthers in the latter are 

 long, awn-like appendages which are 

 absent in the Scotch Heather flowers. 

 The stems of E. Tetralix are very wiry, 

 and the whole plant is covered to a vary- 

 ing extent with downy hairs. In olden 

 days, in Scotland, these plants were used 

 as badges of certain clans — the Macdonalds 



took the Cross-leaved Heath, the 

 IMacalisters the Scotch Heather, and the 

 Macdonnells wore the Ling. Two other 

 species are to be found growing in England, 

 but they are very rare, wliilst Ireland 

 can boast of three more. 



WHORTLEBERRY 



Growing in hilly heaths, woods and 

 moorland tracts the Whortleberry {Vac- 

 cininm myrtillns ) will be found fairly 

 common ; it also rejoices in the names 

 of Bilberry, Whinberry, and Blaeberry. 

 Formerly it was placed in the Heath 

 family, but on account of some slight 

 differences it, with a few relations, now 

 forms the family of Vacciniace?e. 



The Whortleberry is a small shrub, 

 growing nearly a foot in height, with 

 several green, spreading branches ; the 

 leaves have very small stalks and are 

 deciduous, falling off in the early 

 autumn ; they are toothed freely round 

 the edges, and in this respect differ from 

 the smooth leaves of the Bog Whortle- 

 berry (T'. iili^inosum). There is another 

 noticeable difference between the two, 

 in that the stems of the former are angular, 

 whilst thf)se of the latter are round. The 

 Bog Whortleberry is not found excepting 

 in the extreme north of England and in 

 Scotland. Tlie globular, greenish-white 



