THE BLUEBERRY IN MAINE. 1 65 



DWARF OR LOW-BUSH BLUEBERRY. 



1. Vaccinimn Pennsylvanicum, Lam. 



{Vaccinium Pennsylvanicum, Lam. Diet., i, 72; Miclix, Fl., 

 I, 223; Hook, Bot. Mag., t. 3434; Gray, Man. 6 ed., 312; Syn. 

 FL, 2., I, 22. Synonym, Vaccinium myrtilloides, Michx, 1. c. ; 

 V. tenellum, Pursch, Fl. i, 288, not Ait.; Bigel., Fl. Bost., 150.) 



A low branching shrub, 6 inches to 2 feet high, with green, 

 warty but glabrous branches. Leaves oblong, or oblong-lance- 

 olate, green and glabrous on both sides or slightly pubescent on 

 the veins beneath, sharply serrulate, acute at both ends, ^4 to 

 i^ inches long, J4 to yi inch wide; flowers few in the clusters, 

 longer than the very short pedicels ; corolla oblong-campanulate, 

 slightly restricted at the throat, white or pinkish ; berry blue 

 with more or less bloom, very sweet, ripening in July. Found 

 mostly on dry, rocky or sandy soil. 



This species, commonly known as "Early Sweet" or "Low 

 Sweet," furnishes the greater part of the blueberries of our 

 market. The fruit is usually large, sweet, bluish-black 

 and covered with bloom. It varies greatly, however, in size, 

 form and color. The plant is of low habit and, on newly 

 burned areas, is very prolific. (Fig. i shows a blueberry 

 carpet of this species.) Old plants bear but few flowers or fruits 

 in a cluster, as already intimated, but plants one or two years 

 from the "burn," usually send up a prominent spike, as shown 

 in fig. 3. The berries can thus be stripped off by the hand- 

 ful and gathered very rapidly. 



2. Vaccinium vacillans, Solander. 



A low, stiff, branching shrub with glabrous, warty, yellowish- 

 green branches ; leaves obovate or oval, entire or minutely ser- 

 rulate, pale, glabrous on both sides or often glaucus beneath; 

 flowers bell-shaped or cylindrical, somewhat constricted at the 

 throat, pink. Dry places, especially in sandy soil. ]\Iay-June. 

 Fruit ripe, July, August. 



This species, often associated with V. Pennsylvanicum, is of 

 excellent quality and ripens somewhat later than the other. As 

 with V. Pennsylvanicum, the flowers are often racemose on 

 long naked branches. The species was seldom met in the 

 vicinity of Cherryfield, but is abundant in some parts of the 

 State. It is deserving of attempts at cultivation. 



