HUCKLEBERRY FAMILY 



drooping racemes of flowers or of fruit. When 

 neither in flower nor in leaf the reddish yellow wood 

 of the new growth and the peeling, ashy gray bark 

 serve as determining characters. The fruit has little 

 value at the north, but in a milder climate is said to 

 improve considerably in quality. 



BLACK OR HIGH-BUSH HUCKLEBERRY 



Gaylussdcia resmbsa. 



An erect shrub one to three feet high, branching freely with 

 irregular straggling spray. Found on rocky hills and sandy 

 ridges from Newfoundland to Georgia, westward to Wisconsin 

 and Kentucky. Flowers and leaves densely covered with res- 

 inous dots. Species varies considerably. 



Stems. — Young shoots downy, often deep red. Stems mahog- 

 any color beneath a i)early epidermis. Winter buds small, 

 bright red. 



Leaves. — Oval or oblong, rarely obovate, one to two inches 

 long, wedge-shaped at base, entire, obtuse or acute at apex, 

 mucronulate. They come out of the bud involute, shining, 

 covered with minute resinous globules, pale green above and 

 below ; when full grown they are profusely covered with dots 

 of yellow resin which give a yellowish flush to the under-sur- 

 face. Autumnal tints are purplish, crimson and orange. Petiole 

 short. 



Flowers. — May, June. Reddish yellow bells, borne on short 

 one-sided racemes, on terminal and axillary branches. Flower 

 buds heavily covered with resinous dots. 



Calyx. — Resinous; tube adnate to the ovary, five-toothed. 



Corolla. — Ovoid conical or cylindric, five-angled, contracted 

 at the mouth, dull red sometimes touched with yellow, five- 

 toothed ; teeth acute, slightly recurved. 



Sia??iens. — Ten, included, filaments ciliate, anthers awnless, 

 two-celled ; cells prolonged into tubes opening by a pore at 

 apex. 



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