CHAPTER XXIX 



SEED-BEARING PLANTS (Continued) 



METACHLAMYDE^ (Sympetals) 



417. Coalescence. — We have seen above that genera 

 normally having polypetalous flowers frequently furnish 

 examples of the more or less complete fusion or coalescence 

 of the petals. In certain entire families this fusion of 

 different members of the same circle of floral organs be- 

 comes the rule, giving rise to an entire group, the Sym- 

 peiala, based upon this character. Only a few of these 

 families can be cited in illustration. 



418. Heath Family (Ericaceae). — The heath family in 

 North America is composed chiefly of shrubs, though a 

 few, as, for example, Indian pipe {Monotropa} are herbs;^ 

 some of the tropical genera are trees. The beautiful 

 rhododendrons, azaleas, and laurels, trailing arbutus 

 (first harbinger of spring in the northern states) , the aro- 

 matic wintergreen, and the well-known huckleberries 

 {Gaylussacid), and blueberries (Vaccinimn) belong here. 



The structure of an Ericaceous flower may be illustrated 

 by the common mountain- laurel (Kalmia latifolia), of 

 the eastern states (Figs. 357. and 358). The sepals are 

 united below, but parted above; the s}mipetalous corolla 



1 By some authors the large heath family is separated into-a number of 

 smaller families, e.g., Monotropaceae, Ericaceae, Vacciniaceae. In Mono- 

 tropaceae, Clethraceae, and Pyrolaceae, and a few of the true heaths (Eri- 

 caceEe), the corolla is polypetalous. 



473 



