HEATH FAMILY. 211 



ovate, oval, oblong 1 or elliptical-lanceolate, mostly entire ; racemes short, 



clustered on naked branchlets. 



CORYMBOSE YACCINIUM. Swamp Blueberry. Tall Huckleberry. 



Stem 5 -8 or 10 feet high, often stout, with irregular straggling branches the young 

 leafing branches pubescent the flower-bearing ones somewhat angular, naked and in- 

 clining to a greenish bronzo color. Leaves 1-2 inches long, generally elliptic, entire, and 

 always with a short obtuse callous mwcro, or point, at apex, pubescent when young, 

 especially on the nerves and under surface, finally smoothish ; petioles very short. Race- 

 mcs half an inch to an inch long, 6-10 or 12-flowered, proceeding from lateral buds, and 

 unaccompanied with leaves ; pedicels 1-fourth to 1-third of an inch long, with purplish bracts 

 at base, which resemble bud-scales. Corolla white, mostly tinged with purple, nearly 

 cylindrical, somewhat contracted at the orifice, the lobes short and tooth-like. Berries 

 rather large, black with a bluish bloom when mature, very agreeable to the taste. 



Swamps and moist woods : Canada to Georgia. Fl. May. Fr. July -August. 



Obs. This species presents several varieties, which have been consid- 

 ered by some botanists as species differing chiefly in the pubescence of 

 the leaf. One variety, var. atrocar'pum, Gray, has the leaves downy, 

 even when old, arid produces black berries without any bloom. Other 

 species of Vaccinium besides those here enumerated are found in differ- 

 ent portions of the country, but these are the most useful kinds, and 

 descriptions of the others must be sought in works of a more extended 

 scope than the present one. 



3. ARCTOSTA'PHYLOS, Adans. BEARBERRY. 



[Greek, Arktos, a bear, and Staphyle, a grape.] 



Corolla ovate and urn-shaped, with a short, revolute, 5-toothed limb. 

 Stamens 10, included ; anthers with two reflexed awns on the back near 

 the apex, opening by terminal pores. Drupe berry-like, with 5 seed-like 

 nutlets. Shrubs with alternate leaves arid scaly-bracted nearly white 

 flowers in terminal racemes or clusters. Fruit austere. 



1. A. TJva-ur'si, Spreng. Procumbent ; leaves obo- 

 vate or spatulate, entire, thick, smooth, evergreen ; fruit 

 red. 



Bearberry. Upland Cranberry. Uva-ursi. 



Stems branched, trailing on the ground, the sterile branches often 2 - 

 3 feet long, the flowering ones shorter. Leaves about % of an inch 

 long, variable in breadth, spreading or somewhat recurved. Flowers 

 drooping ; corolla pale rose color, somewhat transparent at base, hairy 

 inside. Fruit about the size of a large pea, containing 5 closely-coher- 

 ing, almost bony nutlets, surrounded by a mealy pulp. 



New Jersey, northward. Fl. May. Fr. August. 



Obs. The Bearberry is common in the Northern States 

 on dry and barren hills, where its prostrate branches 

 form dense mats. The leaves are used in medicine ; they are astrin- 

 gent and tonic, and by some are considered to have an effect upon the 



FIG. 144 An enlarged anther of the Bearberry (Arctostaphylos Uva-ursi) ; each of the 

 cells prolonged into a tube with an orifice at the top for the escape of the pollen and fur- 

 nished with an appendage. 



