412 VACCINIACEAE vaccinium 



OXYCOCCUS 



V. ovalifolium Smith in Rees's Cycl. No. 2. Glabrous and glauces- 



cent, 4-13 feet high, straggling : branchlets more or less angled : leaves 

 thin, oval to oblong, mostly obtuse or rounded at both ends, merely mu- 

 cronulate, entire, or with a few irregular serratures, 1-2 inches long, pale 

 and glaucescent : limb of the calyx minutely 10-toothed : corolla ovoid- ' 

 urceolate: pedicels recurved in fruit: berries depressed-globose, 3-5 

 lines in diameter: blue with a bloom, acid but very good. Moist 

 woods, Oregon to Alaska, Quebec and Michigan. 



V. Alaskaelisis. Stem erect, 2-12 feet high, with erect branches and 

 spreading sharply angled branchlets : leaves thickish, 1-3 inches long when 

 mature, mostly ovate or oblong, not rarely acute at both ends, mucronu- 

 late, on very short petioles, dark green above, paler beneath : limb of the 

 calyx obscurely 10-toothed : corolla globular, 2 lines long : pedicels nod- 

 ding in flower, erect in fruit: berries black, globular 4-6 lines in diameter, 

 acid but fine for table use. In the Cascade Mountains of Oregon to Alaska. 



V. parvifolium Smith 1. c. 3. Stem 3-12 feet high, with straggling 

 angled green branches and branchlets : leaves oblong or oval, obtuse or 

 rounded at both ends, 3-8 lines long, entire, pale green, dull beneath, often 

 sparse : limb of the calyx 5-lobed : corolla globular : pedicels nodding in 

 fruit : berries bright red, acid, but fine for table use. Common in damp 

 forests west of the Cascade Mountains, Oregon to Alaska. 



§ 2 Vitis-Idaea Koch. Leaves coriaceous and persistent. 

 Flowers in short racemes or clusters from separate buds, bracte- 

 ate and 2-bracteolate. Stamens with hairy filaments and awnless 

 anthers. 



V. Vitis-Idaea L. Fl. Dan. t. 40. Almost glabrous : branches tufted, 

 4-10 inches high from creeping stems : leaves crowded, obovate or oval, 

 emarginate, shining above, pale and bristly dark-dotted beneath, 3-6 lines 

 long, the margins revolute, entire or obscurely serrulate : flowers crowded 

 in a short terminal secund and nodding bracteate raceme, 4-merous and 

 8-androus : bracts reddish, nearly persistent : limb of the calyx deeply 

 4-lobed : corolla white or rose-color, open-campanulate, rather deeply 4- 

 lobed: berries dark red, acid and bitterish, edible when cooked. In 

 marshes, northern Washington to Alaska and across the continent. 



V. ovatum Pursh. Fl. i, 290. Stems erect or ascending, 2-8 feet high, 

 with rather rigid branches; branchlets pubescent: leaves thick and firm, 

 very numerous, from ovate to oblong-lanceolate, acute, minutely and acute- 

 ly serrate, glabrous or nearly so, bright green both sides, 6-12 lines long: 

 flowers in short and close axillary clusters : bracts and bractlets deciduous, 

 usually red : corolla campanulate 2 lines long, rose-color or nearly white, 

 barely thrice the length of the acute red calyx-lobes : berries black, acid- 

 In moist woods near the coast, Brit. Columbia to California. 



2 OXYCOCCUS Hill British Herbal, 334. (Cranberry.) 



Low trailing or erect shrubs with alternate leaves, and axillary 

 or terminal nodding flowers on long filiform pedicels. Calyx- 

 tube adherent to the ovary, the limb 4-5-cleft, persistent. Corolla 

 4-5-parted, with long narrow reflexed segments. Stamens 8-10, 

 the distinct filaments puberulent at base. Anthers connivent into 

 a cone, awnless, upwardly prolonged into hollow tubes and open- 

 ing by oblique pores at the top. Ovary 4-5-celled, destitute of 

 false partitions. Fruit a many-seeded juicy berry. 



