EEICACE^ — EPACKIDACE^. 527 



tudinally or transversely dehiscent anthers, and Pyrolese, or the 

 Wintergreen tribe, leafy plants with porous anthers. These plants are 

 usually put in separate orders — Monotropacese and Pyrolacese. There 

 are 54 known genera and about 900 species. Examples — Erica, Oal- 

 luna, Menziesia, Andromeda, Arbutus, Ehododendron, Azalea, Da- 

 beocia, Monotropa, Pyrola. 



The plants of the order are not distinguished for medicinal virtues. 

 None of the species of Erica are put to any use. There are six species 

 of the genus natives of Britain ; two of which, E. cinerea and E.iTetra- 

 lix, are common ; two are peculiar to Ireland, E. Maekaiana and E. medi- 

 tei-ranea ; and two are common to England and Ireland, E. ciliaris and E. 

 vagans. Culluna vulgaris is Ling, or the common Heather. Its capsule is 

 septicidal, while in Erica the capsule is loculicidal. It has astringent' 

 qualities, and has been used for dyeing. It is commonly made into 

 brooms. The leaves of Arbutus or Arctostaphylos Uva-Ursi, Bearberry, 

 are used as astringents, especially in chronic mucous discharges. Its 

 fruit is baccate. Arctostaphylos glauca, Manzanita, covers the moun- 

 tains of California with a thick brushwood. Many of the species of 

 Ehododendron, Azalea, Kalmia, Andromeda, and Ledum, have poisonous 

 narcotic qualities. These properties are well marked in Rhododendron 

 Clirysanthum, a Siberian species. It is said that Amlea pontica was 

 the plant the flowers of which yielded the poisonous honey noticed by 

 Xenophon in his account of the retreat of the Ten Thousand. Andro^ 

 medas have scaly buds and loculicidal capsules ; while Ehododendrons 

 have scaly buds and septicidal capsules. A. fastigiata is Himalayan 

 heather. The fruits of many plants belonging to the order are eatable. 

 Gaultheria procimibens and Shallon are American shrubs, which furnish 

 succulent and grateful berries. They yield a volatile oil. In Sikkim 

 the leaves of species of Qualtheria and Andromeda are used for tea. 

 Azalea procumbens grows on the Scottish mountains, also in the arctic 

 regions, and on the Alps of northern and southern Europe, but not on 

 the Himalaya. Arbutus Unedo is called Strawberry-tree, from its fruit 

 resembling a strawberry in aspect. It is, however, by ' no means 

 agreeable as an article of food, and the specific name may possibly in- 

 dicate that to eat one is sufficient. The plant grows at the Lakes of 

 KiUarney, in a native state. Chimaphila (Pyrola) umhellata, a North 

 American plant, has been employed as a tonic and diuretic. The 

 leaves have a bitter astringent taste, and the fresh plant is irritant. 



Order 106. — EpaceidacEjE, the Epacris Family. (Monopet. 

 Hypog.) Calyx 5- rarely 4-parted, often coloured, persistent. Corolla 

 inserted at the base of the calyx, or hypogynous, deciduous or mar- 

 cescent, monopetalous, sometimes separable into 5 petals ; limb with 5, 

 rarely i, equal divisions, sometimes by the cohesion of the segments, 

 bursting transversely; aestivation imbricated 'or valvate. Stamens 

 inserted with or on the corolla, equal in number to, and alternate with. 



