CRANBERRY FAMILY 



303 



prolonged upwards into tubes ending in pores ; berry globose, 

 4 — 5-chambered, many-seeded. (Name of doubtful etymology.) 



1. V. Vitis-ii&a (Cowberry, Red Whortleberry). — A low, strag- 

 gling shrub with evergreen inversely egg-shaped leaves, resembling 

 those of the Box, dotted beneath, the margins rolled back; 

 ■flowers pink, in terminal 



crowded drooping clusters ; 

 corolla 4-cleft ; anthers with- 

 out bristles ; berries red. 

 — Mountainous heaths, 

 chiefly in the north. — Fl. 

 June, July. Perennial. 



2. V. uliginosum (Bog 

 Whortleberry or Great 

 Bilberry). — Stem woody, 

 rounded ; leaves not ever- 

 green, inversely egg-shaped, 

 entire, glaucous, and 

 strongly veined beneath ; 

 ■flowers small, pale pink; 

 anthers with two bristles at 

 the back ; berry small, dark 

 blue, glaucous. — Moun- 

 tainous bogs in the north. 

 Fl. May, June. Perennial. 



3. V. Myrtillus (Whor- 

 tleberry, Bilberry, Whin- 

 berry). — A small branched 

 shrub, 6 — 18 in. high ; stem 

 acutely angular ; leaves not 

 evergreen, egg-shaped, ser- 

 rate ; flowers solitary, 

 drooping, nearly globular, 

 flesh-coloured, wax-like, 

 larger than in the last; 

 anthers with two bristles ; 

 berry dark blue, glaucous, 

 larger than in the last. — Woods ; abundant. The berries, which 

 are popularly known as whorts, have an agreeable taste, and are often 

 made into tarts ; but when thus used are rather mawkish unless 

 mixed with some more acid fruit. — Fl. April— June. Perennial. 



4. V. Oxycoccus (Cranberry. Marsh Whortleberry). — A very low 

 plant, with very slender, strai gling, wiry, prostrate stems, rooting 

 at intervals ; leaves evergreen, egg-shaped, revolute, glaucous 



VACCINIUM MYRTfLLUS 



{Whortleberry, Bilberry, Whinberry). 



