No. 14.] FLOWERING PLANTS AND FERNS. 3II 



Occasional or frequent. Sphagnum swamps and wet 

 places. April — May. 



EPIGAEA L. Ground Laurel. Trailing Arbutus. 



Epigaea repens L. (creeping). 

 Trailing Arbutus. Mayflower. 



Occasional or local. Rocky or sandy woods, usually pre- 

 ferring granite regions. April — May. 



Tlie leaves are used medicinally. In the neighborhood of 

 cities it has been nearly exterminated by careless flower- 

 gatherers. A statute of Connecticut, enacted in 1899, provides 

 that " Every person who shall wilfully destroy, pull up, tear 

 up, or dig up, any trailing arbutus from the land of another, 

 or who shall sell, expose for sale, or purchase or have in his 

 possession, any trailing arbutus with the roots or under-ground 

 stems attached, taken from land not owned or occupied by 

 him, shall be fined not more than twenty dollars." Revised 

 Statutes, sec. 1224. 



GAULTHERIA L. Aromatic Wintergreen. 



Gaultheria procumbens L. (trailing). 



Wintergreen. Checkerberry. Boxberry. Teaberry. Ivory 



Plum. 



Occasional or frequent. Dry woods or sometimes in moist 

 open ground, growing in colonies. July — Aug. 



The berries and the young leaves are often eaten. The 

 leaves and the volatile oil distilled from them are officinal 

 and widely used in medical practice. The oil is also largely 

 used as a flavoring agent. 



ARCTOSTAPHYLOS Adans. Bearberry. 



Arctostaphylos Uva-ursi (L.) Spreng. (bear-grape). 

 Bearberry. Uva-ursi. 



Dry sandy or rocky places : Voluntown and Griswold 

 (Graves), Norwich (Mrs. E. E. Rogers), Somers and West 

 Hartford (Miss A. Lorenz), Middletown (J. D. Cochrane), 

 Southington (D. C. Eaton, Andrews). Occasional or local 

 near the coast. May — June. 



The leaves are officinal and much used in medicine. 



