Nat. Ord. Ericace^. 



SMALL CRANBERRY. 



Vaccinkim Oxycoccus. 



There's not a flower but shews some touch 

 In freckle, freck or stain, 

 - Of His unrivalled pencil. 



Hemans. 



IIIERE is scarcely to be found a lovelier little plant than the 

 ^ common marsh Cranberry. It is of a trailing habit, creep- 

 ^ ^^^ "^o along the ground, rooting at every joint, and sending 



vv "P \\ii\^ leafy upright stems, from which spring long slender 



thready pedicels, each terminated by a delicate peach-blossom tinted 

 flower, nodding on the stalk, so as to throw^ the narrow pointed 

 petals upw^ard. The leaves are small, of a dark myrtle-green, re vo- 

 lute at the edges, whitish beneath, unequally distributed along the 

 stem. The deep crimson smooth oval berries are collected by the 

 squaws and sold at a high price in the fall of the year. 



There are extensive tracts of low, sandy swampy flats in various 

 portions of Canada, covered with a luxuriant growth of low^ Cran- 

 berries. These spots are known as Cranberry Marshes; these places 

 are generally overflowed during the spring ; many interesting and 

 rare plants are found in these marshes, with mosses and lichens 



