280 THE HEATH FAMILY. [Arbutus. 



II. ARBUTUS. ARBUTUS. 



Shrubs or trees, with alternate, entire or toothed, evergreen leaves ; 

 the flowers in terminal panicles. Calyx inferior, of 5 small sepals. 

 Corolla ovoid, enclosing the 10 stamens. Ovary of 5 cells, with several 

 ovules in each. Fruit an indehiscent berry. 



A small genus, chiefly American, with 2 or 3 Asiatic species, one of 

 which extends into Europe. The A. Andrachne, from western Asia, and 

 A. procera, from north-west America, are often planted in our gardens. 



1. A. Unedo, Linn. (fig. 630). Arbutus, Strawberry-tree. An ever- 

 green shrub or bushy tree, the young shoots often hairy, but otherwise 

 glabrous. Leaves shortly stalked, ovate or oblong-lanceolate, toothed, 

 shining on the upper side, 2 or 3 inches long. Flowers in small, 

 drooping terminal panicles, scarcely so long as the leaves, of a 

 greenish white, often tinged with pink. Berry red, globular, and 

 granulated, so as at a distance to resemble a strawberry, but without 

 flavour. 



Frequent in hilly districts of southern Europe, extending eastward 

 almost if not quite to the Caucasus, and along the western coast of 

 Europe to Ireland, where it is abundant about the lakes of Killarney 

 and near Glengariff, but not indigenous to any part of Great Britain. 

 Fl. autumn. 



III. ARCTOSTAPHYLOS. BEARBERRY. 



Low, creeping, or straggling shrubs, with alternate, entire or toothed 

 leaves, and rather small flowers, 2 or 3 together, in short terminal 

 racemes. Calyx, corolla, and stamens of Arbutus, but the ovary has but 

 1 ovule in each cell. Fruit a berry, with 5 or fewer seeds. 



A considerable American genus, with a very few Asiatic and European 

 species. 



Leaves evergreen, shining, and Box-like 1. A. Uva-ursi. 



Leaves strongly veined, withering away at the end of the year . 2. A. alpina., 



1. A. Uva-Tirsi, Spreng. (fig. 631). Common B. The plant has 

 some resemblance to the Cowberry, but is at once known by the free 

 ovary and fruit, the sepals being at the base of the berry, not crowning 

 it. The procumbent stems form large masses with numerous shining 

 evergreen, obovate or oblong leaves, quite entire, and seldom an inch 

 long. Flowers much like those of the Arbutus, but smaller, from 4 to 

 6 together, in compact, drooping terminal racemes. Berries globular, 

 of a bright red, smooth and shining. 



On rather dry, heathy, or rocky hills, often covering considerable 

 tracts of ground, and extending over a great part of central and 

 northern Europe, Asia, and America, to the Arctic Circle. In Britain, 

 confined to Scotland, northern England, and Ireland. Fl. spring. 



2. A. alpina, Spreng. (fig. 632). Black B. A low, creeping shrub, 

 with shorter and more herbaceous branches than those of the last 

 species ; the leaves rather narrower, and very different in consistence, 

 being thin, strongly veined, toothed at the top, and withering away at 

 the end of the season. Young shoots surrounded by the scales of the 

 leaf-buds, which remain long persistent. Flowers small, usually 2 or 

 3 together, on short, drooping pedicels. 



