172 



DESCRIPTIVE BOTANY. 



clothed with hairs. This variety is found along the coast of New Jersey, and 

 south. 



2. G. frondosa, Torr. and Gray. (Blueberry. Tangleberry. High Blueberry.) 

 Smooth branches, slender and spreading. Leaves ovate, blunt, twice as long 

 as wide, pale beneath. Racemes slender, loose ; bracts sublinear ; corolla 

 globular, bell-shaped. Branches slender, with grayish bark. Flowers small, 

 nearly globular, reddish-white. Eruit large, clothed with a glaucous bloom. 



3. G. resinosa, Torr. and Gray. (Black Huckleberry.) Branched, rigid, 

 somewhat hairy when young. Leaves petioled, oblong, egg-shaped, entire, 

 sprinkled with resinous dots, 2 inches long, sometimes acute, shining beneath ; 

 racemes short, 1-sided, bracteate ; corolla conically egg-shaped or cylindrical, 

 narrowed at the mouth. Flowers reddish ; corymbose in dense clusters, small 



and drooping, greenish- or yellowish-pur- 

 ple, longer than the stamens ; style ex- 

 serted. Fruit black, globular, sweet, and 

 edible. Ripe in July and August. 



Geography, — G. dumosa is found com- 

 mon along the coast of North America, 

 from Newfoundland to Florida. The G. 

 frondosa is common in New England, 

 Pennsylvania, and Kentucky, and south 

 to Louisiana and Florida. G, resinosa is 

 found in damp woods, from Newfound- 

 land to Georgia. 



Etymology. — The name Gaylussacia 

 was given to the genus in honor of M. 

 Gay Lussac, the eminent French chemist. 

 Dianosa, the Latin for " bush," is applied 

 to this plant to denote its character in 

 that respect. Frondosa is Latin for 

 " leafy," and was given to the species on 

 account of the length of the leaf. The 

 specific name resinosa was applied on account of the presence of resinous dots, 

 or globules, on the leaves. Whortleberry is derived from the Anglo-Saxon 

 ivyrtil, a small shrub. HucMeberry is a corruption of hurtleberry, derived 

 from whortleberry. The derivation of tangleberry is obscure. Blueberry is 

 named from the color of the berries. 



History and Use, — G. resinosa is the huckleberry of the markets. It was 

 the favorite berry used by the natives of North America in their celebrated 

 attitash, consisting of huckleberries of several sorts dried and beaten to powder 

 xVnother favorite dish, called sautaash, consisted of the attitash mixed with 

 corn meal, and Avas always prepared for their festivals. 



OXYCOCCUS, Pers. (Cranberry.) Calyx adhering to the ovary, 

 4-cleft. Corolla 4-parted ; segments narrow and turned back ; stamens 

 8, convergent ; anthers tubular, 2-parted, opening by oblique pores. 

 Fruit a globular, 4-celled, many-seeded berry. Shrubs, with slender, 

 creeping, assurgent stems and branches. 



1. 0.macrocarpus,Pers. (Vacciniummacrocarpum, Ait.) (Large-fruited C ran 

 berry.) Stem from 1 to 5 feet long, pro.strate, throwing up assurgent flower- 



Gaylussacia resinosa (Huckleberry). 



