St See eee 
: —o 
280 THE HEATH FAMILY. [ Vaccinium. 
Stems prostrate or creeping. Leaves evergreen, Anthers with- 
outawns. Berries red. a 
Leaves obovate, firm. Corolla campanulate. : te . 3. Vi Vitis-idea. 
Leaves small, ovate or lanceolate. Stem slender. Corolla . 
spreading, with reflexed lobes . ; | : - 4. V. Oxycoccos, 
1. V. Myrtillus, Linn. (fig. 624). Bilberry Vaccinium, Bilberry, 
Blueberry, Whortieberry.—A small glabrous shrub, with numerous erect 
or spreading, angular, green branches, 6 inches to a foot high, or rather 
more. Leaves deciduous, ovate, often slightly cordate at the base, seldom 
an inch long, bordered with small teeth, and scarcely stalked. Flowers 
nearly globular, of a pale greenish-white, with a tinge of red, growing 
singly on short recurved pedicles in the axils of the leaves. Berry globular, 
nearly black, covered with a glaucous bloom, and crowned by the short 
teeth of the calyx. 
In mountain heaths and woods, in northern and central Europe and 
Russian Asia, restricted to great mountain-ranges in southern Europe, and 
usually occupying large tracts of land. Common in Britain, with the excep- 
tion of the eastern counties. #7. spring. 
2. V.uliginosum, Linn. (fig. 625). Bog Vaccinium.—A smaller 
plant, more woody and branched than V. Myrtillus, with smaller, obovate, 
or orbicular leaves, quite entire, but thin, deciduous, and much veined as in 
that species. The branches are cylindrical, or have scarcely perceptible 
angles, and are much shorter and not so straight. Flowers rather smaller ; 
the berries very similar in size and colour. 
In mountain heaths and bogs, in northern and central Europe, Russian 
Asia, and northern America; generally restricted to greater elevations than 
V. Myrtillus. Common in the Highlands of Scotland, and descends to 
the northern counties of England, but not recorded from Ireland. 7. 
Spring. 
3. V. Witis-ideea, Linn. (fig. 626). Cowberry Vaccinium, Red W hortle- 
berry, Cowberry.—Stems much branched, procumbent, and straggling, 
with numerous evergreen obovate or oblong leaves, like those of the Bow. 
Flowers several together, in short, dense, terminal, drooping racemes. 
Corolla of a pale flesh-colour, campanulate, with spreading but not re- 
flexed lobes. Berries much resembling those of the Cranberry, for which 
they are sometimes sold. 
In dry, rocky moors and heaths, and open woods, in northern and 
central Europe, Russian Asia, and North America, becoming a mountain 
plant in southern Europe. In Britain, spread over Scotland, northern and 
western England, including Devon and Nottinghamshire, Wales, and 
Ireland. £1. early summer. | 
4, V.Oxycoccos, Linn. (fig. 627). Oranberry Vaccinium, Cranberry. 
—Stem creeping, and very much more slender and wiry than in any of 
the preceding species. Leaves small, evergreen, ovate or lanceolate, with 
their edges rolled back, and the under side very glaucous. Flowers droop- 
ing, on long, slender peduncles, which have a pair of small bracts below 
the middle. Corolla deeply divided into 4 lobes, which are very spreading 
or turned back, exposing the stamens. Berry globular, red, crowned by — 
the 4 short teeth of the calyx. 
In peat-bogs, in northern Europe, Asia, and America, and in the high 
mountain-ranges of central Europe, but not recorded from the Caucasus. 
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