HORTICULTURAL STATUS OF THE GENUS VACCINIUM, 1 4 1 



V. Myrsinites, Lam. 



Lamarck, Encyc. 1 : 73, 1783. 



(Synonym: V. nitidum var. dccnmbcns, Sims, Bot. Mag. 



I550.) 



Low evergreen shrub, erect or decumbent ; branches, when 

 young, puberulent ; leaves exceedingly variable, oblong-lanceo- 

 late and acute to obovate and obtuse, l /\-\ inch long, entire or 

 serrulate, sometimes denticulate, mostly shining above ; bracts 

 and calyx-teeth acute or acutish ; berries "globose, blue." 

 (Figured: (as V. nitidum var. dccnmbcns) Bot. Mag. t.1550) 

 — Sandy pine barrens, North Carolina to Florida and Louisiana. 



The difference between this species and the preceding is 

 obscure. The chief points of distinction seem to be that 

 Myrsinites has puberulent branchlets, prominently veined leaves 

 and acute calyx-teeth and bracts; while nitidum has smooth 

 branchlets, smaller and faintly veined leaves, with obtuse or 

 roundish calyx-teeth and bracts. 



The species is grown as a pot plant in cool houses in England 

 under the name of V. Sprcngelii. (Gard. Chron. n. s. 19:473, 

 1883). 



V. vacillans, Kalm, (Low Blueberry, Blue Huckleberry) 

 Kalm in Herb. Banks ; Torr., Fl. N. Y., 1 : 444, 1843. 



(Synonyms: V . vacxilans Solander, Gray, Man. ed. 1, 261 ; 

 V. virgatum Bigelow, Fl. Bost, ed. 2, 152; V. Pcnnsylvanicum 

 Torr., Fl. N. U. S. 1 : 416, in part.) 



Erect, glabrous, with pale yellowish-green branchlets ; leaves 

 obovate or oval, entire or sparingly serrulate ; flowers in rather 

 loose clusters, generally on leafless summits of twigs ; corolla 

 campanulate or cylindraceous, contracted at the mouth ; berries 

 large, blue, with much bloom, of excellent flavor, ripening with 

 V. Canadcnse. (Figured: Emerson, Trees and Shrubs of 

 Mass., ed. 5, 454.) — Dry, sandy or rocky places, Maine to North 

 Carolina, westward to Michigan and Missouri. 



One of the most common species of the northern and central 

 states, particularly west of the Alleghanies. The flowers, on 

 terminal and lateral naked branchlets, yellowish white, often 

 tinged with red, are quite showy ; while the fruit is particularly 



