l66 MAINE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 



LOW BLACK BLUEBERRY. 



3. Vacciniuni nigrum, Britten, (Mem. Torr. Club, 5; 252,. 

 1894). {Vaccinium P ennsylvanicum var. nigrum, Wood.). 



"Similar to Vaccinium P ennsylvanicum and often growing 

 with it; 6 to 12 inches high, the twigs glabrous. Leaves oblong, 

 oblanceolate or obovate, acute at apex, narrowed or rounded at 

 the base, finely serrulate, very nearly sessile, 3^ to i inch long, 

 J4 to 3^ inch wide, glabrous on both sides, green above, pale 

 and glaucus beneath ; flowers few in the clusters, longer than 

 their pedicels; corolla globose-ovoid, very little constricted at 

 the throat, white or cream color; berry black, without bloom, 

 about %_ inch in diameter. — Blooms earlier than V. Pennsyl- 

 vanicum May. Fruit ripens in July." Britton & Brown, Flora 

 of North U. S. IT, 579. 



This type (fig. 5) is not infrequent in the vicinity of Cherry- 

 field and is classed with the ordinary "Early Sweet." It is 

 usually found in areas varying in extent from a few square feet 

 to several rods. Scattering bushes are also found mingled 

 with V. P ennsylvanicum. 



VELVET LEAF OR "sOUR TOP." 



4. Vaccinium Canadense, Richards. (Richards in Frank. 

 Jour. 2, 12 (1893); Hook FL, 2, 32; and Bot. Mag., t. 3446; 

 Gray, Syn. FL, 2, i, 22). A low pubescent, branching shrub, 

 6 inches to 2 feet high. Leaves oblong, oblong-lanceolate or 

 narrowly elliptic, pubescent, at least beneath, entire, i to 1^4 

 inches long, Yz to J/2 inch wide ; flowers few, in clusters which 

 are sometimes numerous on naked branches, appearing with 

 the leaves ; pedicels usually shorter than the flowers ; corolla 

 oblong-campanulate, greenish white; berry blue, with bloom- 

 (rarely white), moist places. May and June. Fruit ripe July 

 and August. 



This species, usually more vigorous in habit than the pre- 

 ceding, grows more commonly in rather moist, rocky, not 

 swampy, localities. The firuit (fig. 4) is larger and more 

 acid than the other low forms (hence the popular name "Sour 

 Top"), and matures from one to three weeks later. It is not 

 so popular in the general market as is the first mentioned species, 

 but it is very prolific and its lateness in ripening is a point in 

 its favor. 



