572 13. VAC'CIXIUM OXYCOCCOS. [CL. VITT. 



Synonymes and Figures. 

 Oxycoccos, Val Cord. Hist. cd. Gesner. f. 140. b. 

 Vaccinia palustria, Dodon. 790. Lohel Ic. 2. 109. J. Bauh. 



Hist. 1, 525. Gerard Emac. 1419- P^rA*. Theatr. 1229. 

 Erica vi. baccifera, DalccJi. 187. 

 Vaccinium oxycoccos, /.f/i??. Fl. Dan. 80. Engl. Bot. 319- 



>S'cM'. t. 107. a. L«m. Ill t. 286. f. 3. Batsch Anal. Flor. 



t. 7. 

 Oxycoccos palustris, Pers. Syn. 1. 419. O. vulgaris., Pursh 



Amcr. Sept. 1. 263. 

 Schollcra oxycoccos, Roth. Fl. Germ. 2. p. 442. 

 Schollera paludosa, Bawngart. Transylv. 1. 381. 



Geographical Distribution. 



It is chiefly in the highest northern latitudes that this plant 

 grows, namely, Greenland, Iceland, Lapland, Siberia, Kanit- 

 schatka, Unalaska, and North America as far as Baffin's Bay. 

 Its most southern limit seems to be 46* N. Lat. ; for it is 

 found in the Floras of Switzerland, of Carinthia, and of Tran- 

 sylvania, but it does not grow in Italy and Greece. 



Uses. 



Cranberries are an article of food ; but in their natural 

 state they are too sour, and they must have been subjected 

 to frost, in order that they may become palatable. If they 

 are kept during the winter in snow, they become a pleasant 

 article of food in spring. In Scotland they constitute so con- 

 siderable an article of commerce, that at Longtown, on the 

 borders of Cumberland^ from L. 20 to L. 30 Sterling worth 

 are sold every day during five or six weeks. The I'nglish 

 prepare them with sugar, and use them in tarts ; (Lightfoot, 

 Flor. Scot. 1. p. 203.) This luxury, however, cannot be en- 

 joyed by every body, for the Cranberries have a peculiar 

 taste. In Petersburg they are sold in spring, water is pour- 

 ed on them, which thus assumes the colour of madder, and a 

 cooling drink is procured, (Gorter Flor. Ingr. p. 59.) The 

 Swedish apolhccarics make syrups and jellies from these ber- 



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