2 74 Ericacecz Vaccinium. 



ORDER LXTIL ERICACE^ (including Vaccinece). 



Shrubs or trees, usually evergreen. Leaves simple, alternate, 

 opposite or whorled, exstipulate. Flowers regular, hermaphro- 

 dite. Calyx superior or inferior ; limb 4- or 5-lobed. Corolla 

 cainpanulate or urceolate, lobes imbricate. Stamens 4 to 10, 

 hypogynous or epigynous ; anthers 2-celled, opening by termi- 

 nal pores, often furnished with an awn-like appendage. Disk 

 annular, lobed, or glandular. Fruit a berry or capsule, 3- to 5- 

 celled ; cells many- or 1 -seeded ; seeds small. There are about 

 75 genera and 1,000 species, mostly from temperate and cold 

 climates. Pyrola, Wintergreen, is an herbaceous genus repre- 

 sented in Britain by three or four species of tufted herbs with 

 radical leaves and terminal racemose spikes of small flowers 

 in which the petals are free or nearly so. 



TRIBE I. VACCINES 

 Fruit inferior ; stamens epigynous. 



1. VACClNIUM. 



Erect or procumbent shrubs. Leaves alternate ; buds clothed 

 with scales. . Flowers small, solitary or racemose, white or red. 

 Corolla campanulate or urceolate. Stamens 8 to 10; anther- 

 cells with tubular tips. Berry 4- or 5-celled. There are 

 about 100 species in temperate Europe, Asia, and America, 

 and three species are natives of Great Britain, V. Myrtillus, 

 Whortleberry or Bilberry, being the commonest. This has 

 angular stems, deciduous ovate toothed leaves, and solitary pink 

 and white flowers, succeeded by glaucous bluish-black berries. 

 V. Vitis-Idcba, Cowberry, has pubescent stems, evergreen leaves, 

 racemose flowers, and red berries. It is rare in the central 

 counties of England, and absent from the South. V. uligind- 

 sum is a northern species of procumbent habit with glabrous 

 stems, entire leaves, pink flowers, and dark blue berries. Oxy- 

 coccospalustris, Cranberry, is sometimes united with Vaccinium, 

 but differs in having a rotate corolla with reflexed lobes. It is 

 remarkable for its slender thread-like branches and small leaves. 

 The flowers are small and drooping, and the berries red. The 

 origin of the name is not explained. Some of the North 



