BROAD-LEAVED EVERGREENS 149 



hillsides of New England and southward, is a lovely 

 plant but alas! not very amenable under cultivation. 

 Its sweet-scented white to delicate pink flowers open 

 beside the remnants of snowdrifts in early spring. It 

 is regrettable that this plant, a favorite with every- 

 body, is so coy and hard to please in gardens. An 

 allied plant, the Wintergreen or Checkerberry (Gaul- 

 theria procumbens), however, grows readily in any 

 garden soil. This common shrub, so abundant in 

 woodlands and wild places generally from Maine 

 southward and west to Michigan, grows from three to 

 six inches high and has lustrous dark green ovate 

 leaves clustered on the top of a ruddy stem and tiny 

 urn-shaped white flowers which are followed by pure 

 red, hanging, aromatic fruits. 



The Crowberry (Empetrum nigrum), abundant in 

 cold, temperate, and sub-arctic regions throughout the 

 Northern Hemisphere, has insignificant leaves, yet it 

 forms neat mats of dark green in the vicinity of 

 eternal ice and snow. Its relative, Corema Conradii, 

 is a more conspicuous plant with broader leaves and 

 forms compact clusters about six inches high. 



As a ground cover in the open there is nothing bet- 

 ter than the Bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi), with 

 its long trailing shoots and gray-green leaves forming 

 a dense carpet. The flowers are white or pinkish, 



