ERICACE^. (heath FAMILY.) 259 



21. liEIOPHiT,L,IJM, Pers. Sand Mtetle. 



Calyx 5-parted. Corolla of 5 distinct obovate-oblong petals, spreading. Sta- 

 mens 10, exserted : anthers opening lengthwise. Pod 2 - 3-celled, splitting from 

 the apex downward, many-seeded. — A low much-branched evergreen, witli the 

 aspect, foliage, &c. of the preceding genus, but the crowded leaves often alter- 

 nate, scarcely petioled. Flowers small, white, in terminal umbel-like clusters. 

 (Name from \eios, smooth, and <j>i\\ov, foliage, in allusion to the smooth and 

 shining leaves.) 



1. Ii. buxifolium, Ell. — Sandy pine barrens of New Jersey, and 

 mountain-tops in Virginia'! and southward. May. — Shrub 6' -10' high, with 

 the oval or oblong leaves i' - ^' long. 



Suborder in. V\ROl.t:M. Thk Pyrola Family. 



22. P'tROl.A, L. False Winteugkeen. 



Calyx 5-parted, persistent. Petals 5, concave and more or less converging, 

 deciduous. Stamens 10 : filaments awl-shaped, naked : anthers turned out- 

 wards and inverted in the bud, soon erect, opening by 2 pores at the scarcely 

 (if at all) 2-homed apex, more or less 4-ceUed. Style long and generally turned 

 to one side : stigmas 5, either projecting or confluent with the ring or collar 

 which suiTounds them. Pod depressed-globose, 5-lobed, 5-celled, 5-valved from 

 the base upwards (loculicidal); the valves cobwebby on the edges. Seeds mi- 

 nute, innumerable, resembling saw-dust, with a very loose cellular-reticulated 

 coat. — Low and smooth perennial herbs, with running subterranean shoots, 

 bearing a cluster of rounded and petioled evergreen root-leaves, and a simple 

 raceme of nodding flowers, on an upright soaly-bracted scape. (Name a dimin- 

 utive of Pt/rus, the Pear-tree, from some fancied resemblance in the foliage, 

 which is not obvious.) 



* Stamens ascending : style declining and curved, at length longer than the petals : 

 stigmas narrow, soon exserted beyond the ring : leaves denticulate or entire. 



1. P. rotlindifolia, L. (Round-leaved Pykola.) Leaves orbicu- 

 lar, thick, shining, usually shorter than the petiole; raceme elongated, many- 

 flowered ; calyx-M>es lanceolate or oblong-lancedate, acutish, with somewhat spread- 

 ing tips, one half or one third the length of the roundish-obovate nearly spreading 

 (chiefly white) petals; anther-cells scarcely pointed at the apex. — Damp or sandy 

 woods; common, especially northward. June, July. — Scape 6' -12' high, 

 raany-bracted : flowers J' broad. — Exhibits many varieties, such as Var. 

 iifCARNATA, with flesh-colored flowers ; calyx-lobes triangular-lanceolate. — 

 Var. asaeif6lia, with oblate or round-reniform leaves, and triangular-ovate 

 calyx-lobes of about J the length of the white or flesh-colored petals. (P. asari- 

 tolia., Michx.) Common northward. — Var. uligin6sa, with roundish-oval or 

 somewhat kidney-shaped smaller leaves (I'-lJ' wide), and ovate acute calyx- 

 lobes i the length of the reddish or purple petals ; flowers rather smaller, few or 

 several. (P. uliginosa, Torr. %■ Gr.) Cold bogs, N. New England to Wiscon- 

 sin, and northward. (Eu.) 



