DICOTYLEDONOUS PLANTS 171 



a little narrowed at the throat, white or pinkish. Berry blue, with 

 much bloom, ripening earlier than the other eatable species, sweeter 

 than No. 1, but not so high-flavored. In dry or sandy soil, espe- 

 cially N. 



3. V. stamineum, L. DEERBERRY, SQUAW HUCKLEBERRY. An 

 erect shrub, 310 ft. high ; branches widely spreading, twigs smooth 

 or minutely downy. Leaves deciduous, oval or oblong, acute or 

 taper-pointed at the apex, obtuse or slightly heart-shaped at the 

 base, firm, smooth, and green above, pale and slightly downy 

 beneath, petioled. Racemes with leaf-like bracts. Flowers numer- 

 ous, drooping, on jointed, slender pedicels. Corolla bell-shaped, 

 purplish-green, 2-awned anthers and style projecting. Berry glo- 

 bose or pear-shaped, inedible. Dry woods.* 



4. V. arboreum, Marsh. FARKLEBERRY. Tree-like, sometimes 

 30 ft. high ; bark gray ; twigs slender, smooth or downy. Leaves 

 deciduous, ovate or oval, mucronate, entire or glandular-dentate, 

 leathery, green above, often slightly downy beneath. Racemes with 

 leaf-like bracts; pedicels slender, drooping. Corolla campanulate, 

 white. Anthers included ; style projecting. Berry globose, black, 

 mealy, ripening in winter. Common in dry, open woods.* 



5. V. macrocarpon, Ait. CRANBERRY. Stems creeping, thread- 

 like, 1-3 ft. or more in length, the branches not quite erect, some- 

 times 8 in. high. Leaves usually oval or oblong, obtuse, thickish, 

 evergreen, the younger ones with the margins somewhat rolled 

 under. Flowers nodding. Petals strongly reflexed, deep rose-red 

 inside at the base, pale pinkish or almost white at the tips. Sta- 

 mens with the filaments hardly as long as the anthers. Fruit red 

 or reddish-purple, ellipsoidal or nearly globose, very acid, much 

 valued for sauce, pies, and jellies. Common in peat-bogs and wet 

 meadows N. 



76. PRIMULACE^. PRIMROSE FAMILY. 



Herbs, with simple leaves, often most or all of them radi- 

 cal. Flowers perfect and regular, generally gamopetalous. 

 Stamens commonly 5, inserted on the corolla, opposite its 

 lobes. Pistil consisting of a single stigma and style and a 

 (generally free) 1-celled ovary, with a free central placenta. 



I. DODECATHEON, L. 



A smooth, perennial herb, with a cluster of oblong or spatu- 

 late root-leaves, fibrous roots, and an unbranched scape, 



