164 



N. Ord. ERICACEAE. 

 Tribe Andromedece. 



Genus Gaultheria, Kalm* DC. Prod., vii, pp. 592-597. 

 Species 43, natives chiefly of America, a few Indian. 



164. Gaultheria procumbens, Linn., Sp. PL, ed. I, p. 395 



(1753). 



Wintergreen. Mountain Tea. Tea-berry. Checker-berry. Part- 

 ridge-berry. Box-berry. Jersey Tea. Spice-berry. Ground 

 Holly. 



Syn. G. humilis, Salisb. Gautiera repens, Rafinesque. 



Figures.BaYton, t. 15 (not good) ; Bigelow, t. 22 ; Andr., Bot. Repos., 

 t. 116; Bot. Mag., t. 1966. 



Description. A small creeping shrub ; stem long, prostrate, 

 very slender, with brown scaly bark, giving off root-fibres below, 

 and above numerous erect branches, 3 6 inches high, naked and 

 glabrous below, downy and with crowded leaves above. Leaves 

 alternate, shortly stalked, 1 1J inches long, oval but varying 

 somewhat in width, tapering at base, acute at apex, thick, 

 smooth, shining, sharply serrate, the serratures bristle- tipped. 

 Flowers few, solitary from the leaf -axils ; pedicels shorter than 

 flowers, curved downwards, so that the flowers are pendulous, 

 with two small broad bracts immediately below the calyx, crimson. 

 Calyx saucer- shaped, deeply cut into 5 broad acute segments. 

 Corolla urceolate, narrowed at the mouth, with 5 small spreading 

 teeth, pale pink, waxy-looking, hairy within. Stamens 10, 

 hypogynous, entirely included in the corolla ; filaments curved, 

 hairy ; anthers 2-celled, each cell prolonged above into 2 awns, 

 opening by a terminal pore. Ovary depressed, 5-lobed, smooth, 

 5 -celled, surrounded at the base by a 5-lobed hypogynous disk, 

 placentation axile ; style simple, thick, longer than stamens. Fruit 

 bright crimson-red, berry-like, sub-globular, the exterior formed 



* Named to commemorate Dr. Gaultier, a physician of Quebec in the 18th 

 century. 



