n EEICACE^ 261 



V. Oxycoccos (Cranberry). — The procumbent stem is 

 much more slender than in the other species. The 

 leaves are lanceolate, evergreen, glaucous below, and 

 with the edges rolled back. The flowers are on long 

 slender peduncles ; the corolla is red with reflexed lobes, 

 exposing the stamens, which are widened, and thus form 

 a tube protecting the honey. Their whole outer side is 

 rough with short hairs, but those on the edges are 

 longer and so interlocked that no insect can get at the 

 honey through them, but must push its proboscis between 

 the anthers. No insect visitors have yet been recorded, 

 but some bees are very early risers, and work short 

 hours, so that they may easily be missed. The flowers, 

 moreover, are long-lived, lasting, according to Sprengel, 

 no less than eighteen days. 



Arctostaphylos 



A. Uva-Ursi (Bearberry). — The flowers are 4-6 

 together, in compact terminal drooping racemes. The 

 honey does not remain on the nec- 

 tary, but runs into ten cups at the 

 base of the corolla. It is prevented 

 from running down any further by 

 the hairs on the outer side of the 

 stamens and the inner side of the 

 corolla. The stamens (Fig. 162) are 

 narrow at the base, then expand 

 suddenly, forming a closed ring round 



,, •' j_i ° ■ T • • 1 • X FiH' 162. —Stamen of 



the ovary, then again dimmish into a Arctostaphylos Vm- 

 cylindrical filament. At the base of ^^f ^ =*^™ f™"! ti^« 

 the anther are two long tail -like ' ' n 



appendages. Hive bees and humble bees seem alone to 

 be able to reach the honey. The fruit is red. The 

 leaves are shining, evergreen, obovate or oblong. 



A. alpina (Fig. 163). — This is, strictly speaking, 

 a Northern, not an Alpine species. The flowers are 

 generally 2-3, in compact terminal drooping racemes. 

 The appendages of the anthers are much smaller, and 

 in Greenland are said to be altogether wanting. 



