OCTANDRIA— MONOGYNIA. Vaccinium. 219 



Cal. superior, of 1 leaf, small, permanent, 4-toothed. Cor. 

 of 1 petal, bell-shaped, with 4, more or less deep, revo- 

 lute segments. Filam. awl-shaped, flattened, inserted into 

 the receptacle, equal. Anth. terminal, erect, oblong, with 

 2 points, opening by a terminal pore in each. Germ, in- 

 ferior, roundish. Style simple, cylindrical, erect, longer 

 than the stamens. Stigma obtuse. Berry globular, with 

 a central depression, 4-celled. Seeds h\f, small, angular. 



One fourth is occasionally added to the number of each part 

 of the fructification. 



Shrubs, mostly of veiy humble growth, with simple, alter- 

 nate, evergreen or deciduous, leaves. Fl. stalked, soli- 

 tary or aggregate, reddish or white, very elegant. Berries 

 blue, black, or red, acid and eatable. The genus is chiefly 

 American, and the foliage turns red in decay. It is an 

 insurmountable stumbling-block in the way of all received 

 principles of natural classification, being of the Erica 

 tribe, with an inferior germen ! 



* Leaves deciduous. 



1 . V. Myrtillus. Black Whortle-berry. Bilberry. 



Stalks solitary, single-flowered. Leaves ovate, seiTated, 

 membranous, smooth, deciduous. Stem acutely angular. 

 Calyx wavy, nearly entire. 



V. Myrtillus. Linn. Sp. PL 498. tVilld. v. 2. 348. FL Br. 414. 

 EngL Bot. V. 7. t. 456. Hook. Scot. 118. FL Dan. L 974. Ehrh. 

 Arb. 82. 



V. n. 1020. HalL Hist. v. 1. 436. 



Vaccinia nigra. Ger. Em. 1415./. Dod. Pempt. 768./. 



Vitis Idssa angulosa. Bauh. Hist. v. I. 520^ with a wrong figure. 

 Raii Syn. 457. 



Idasa Vitis. Dalech. Hist. 191 ./. 



.Myrtillus. Trag. Hist. 974. f. 975. Matth. Valgr. v.\.2\0.f. Ga- 

 mer. Epit. 135./. 



On stony heaths, and in woods where the soil is turfy, chiefly in 

 mountainous countries, abundantly. 



Shrub. May. 



Stem bushy, from 1 to 2 feet high, with irregular, smooth, green, 

 leafy, angular branches. Leaves stalked, ovate, serrated, about 

 an inch long, bright green, smooth, thin, delicate and veiny, de- 

 ciduous. Stipulas none. FL on simple, axillary, solitary, droop- 

 ing stalks. Ca?(/a' dilated and wavy, scarcely toothed. Cor. ovate, 

 bright red, with a waxy transparency ; generally 5-clcft. Stam. 

 10. ylnth. with 2 lateral horns. Berrien blueish-blacl^ of 5 ccUs^ 



