548 BOTANY or CROP PLANTS 



CRANBERRIES 



Some botanists place the cranberries in the genus Oxycoc- 

 cus, separate from the blueberries, huckleberries and bil- 

 berries, which are included in the genus Vaccinium. In 

 Oxycoccus the corolla is deeply four-cleft or four-divided, 

 while in Vaccinium it is bell-shaped or cylindric and divided 

 only at the very apex. We have placed all the cranberries 

 in the genus Vaccinium. There are two principal species of 



Fig. 226. — American cranberry (Vaccinium maorocarpon) . 



cranberries grown in America: American cranberry {Vac- 

 cinium macrocarpon) and the small cranberry {Vaccinium 

 oxycoccus). These are distinguished in the key above. It 

 seems that the appearance of the flower in the bud has prob- 

 ably suggested the name cranberry or "craneberry." Just 

 before the flower opens, the pedicel, calyx and corolla resem- 

 ble the neck, head, and bill of a crane. 



Vaccinium macrocarpon (Large or American Cranberry) . — 

 This is a low, slender, creeping plant with oblong or oval 



