ERICACE^. (heath FAMILY.) 251 



5. EPICr^A, L. Ground Laubel. Teailing AaBuius. 



Corolla salver-form ; the tube hairy inside, as long as the ovate-lanceolate 

 pointed and scale-like nearly distinct sepals. Stamens 10, with slender fila- 

 ments : anthers oblong, awnless, opening lengthwise. Pod depressed-globular, 

 5-Iobed, 5-celled, many-seeded. — A prostrate or trailing scarcely shrubby plant, 

 bristly with msty hairs, with evergreen and reticulated rounded and heart-shaped 

 alternate leaves, on slender petioles, and with rose-colored flowers in small axil- 

 lary clusters, from scaly bracts. (Name composed of em, upon, and y^i *^ earth, 

 from the trailing growth.) 



1. E. repens, L. — Sandy woods, or sometimes in rocky soil, especially 

 in the shade of pines, common in many places. — Flowers appearing in early 

 spring, and exhaling a rich spicy fragrance. In New England called Mat- 



FLOWBB. 



€• CS AXTIiTHEBIA, Kalm. Abomatio WiNTEEGKEEif. 



Corolla cylindrical-ovoid or a, little urn-shaped, 5 toothed. Stamens 10, in- 

 cluded : anther-cells each 2-awned at the summit, opening by a terminal pore. 

 Pod depressed, 5-lobed, 5-celled, 5-valved, many-seeded, enclosed when ripe by 

 tlie calyx, which thickens and turns fleshy, so as to appear as a globular red 

 berry ! — Slu-ubs, or almost herbaceous plants, with alternate evergreen leaves 

 and axillary (nearly white) flowers : pedicels with 2 bractlets. (Dedicated by 

 Kalm to " Dr. Gatdthier," of Quebec; Linn. Amcen. Acad. 3, p. 15 ; very likely 

 the same person as the M. Gautier who contributed a paper on the Sugar-Maple 

 to the Memoirs of the French Academy ; but it is too late to alter the original 

 orthography of the genus.) 



1. G. procnnibens, li. (Cbeeping Wintebgebbn.) Stems slender 

 and extensively creeping on or below the surface ; the flowering branches as- 

 cending, leafy at the summit (3' - 5' high) ; leaves obovate or oval, obscurely 

 serrate ; flowers few, mostly single in the axils, nodding. — Cool damp woods, 

 mostly in the shade of evergreens : common northwai-d, and southward along 

 the AUeghanies. July. — The bright red berries (formed of the calyx) and the 

 foliage have the well-known spicy-aromatic flavor of the Sweet Bireh. In the 

 interior of the country it is called Wintergreen, or sometimes Tea-berry. East- 

 ward it is called Checkerberry or Partridge-berry (names also applied to Mitchella, 

 the latter especially so), and Boxberry. 



7. IjEUCOTHOE, Don. I/Edcothoe. 



Calyx of 5 nearly distinct sepals, imbricated in the bud, not enlarged nor 

 fleshy in fruit. Corolla ovate or cylindraceous, 5-toothed. Stamens 10: an- 

 thers naked, or the cells with 1 or 2 erect a^vns at the apex, opening by a pore. 

 Pod depressed, more or lees 5-lobed, 5-celled, 5-valvcd, the sutures not thick- 

 ened ; valves entire : the many-seeded placentae borne on the summit of tlie short 

 columella, mostly pendulous. — Shrubs, with petioled and serrulate leaves, and 

 white scaly-bracted flowers crowded in axillary or tenninal spiked racemes. 

 (A mvthological name.) 



