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THE AMERICAN NATURALIST [Vol. XXXVII. 



are adorned with Rhododendron maximum and Kalmia latifolia 

 in immense abundance and profuse blossoming, of every hue 

 from deep rose to white, and here and there among other shrubs 

 Azalea calcndnlacea, of every hue from light yellow to deepest 

 flame color." 1 The flowers of Kalmia are red or red purple and 

 are pollinated by bees. In northern New England the com- 

 monest species of Kalmia is K. atigustifolia, which produces its 

 crimson flowers in late spring. The central flowers of the 

 corymb are smaller and imperfectly developed ; the corolla is 

 white and without pouches, while the stamens stand erect and 

 are not exceeded in length by the pistil. Most of the northern 

 genera of the Ericaceae, however, are shrubby plants with small, 

 white, racemose or clustered, drooping flowers attractive to the 

 honeybee and bumblebees. Such are Andromeda, Leucothoe, 

 and Gaidthcria procumbens, or the checkerberry. The flowers 

 of this last species are partially concealed beneath the leaves and 

 in the grass and moss, amid which the plant grows. Yet I have 

 found the honeybee and three species of bumblebees very 

 frequent visitors. The aromatic scented flowers are white with 

 reddish calyx and peduncles. It would be difficult to find greater 

 extremes in conspicuousncss than is presented by the magnificent 

 color masses of Rhododendron and Kalmia, and the small con- 

 cealed flowers of Gaultheria, yet these latter do not want for 

 pollinators. None of the true heaths (Erica) are endemic in 

 America, but two species (E. cine re a and E. tetralix, adventitious 

 from Europe) occur in small patches on the Island of Nantucket. 

 E. carina unlike most red dowers of this family is adapted to 

 butterflies. Both the petals and sepals are pink or crimson, and 

 the peduncles are still more intensely colored. The inverted 

 flowers were doubtless first adapted to bees, as is usually the 

 case with campanulate flowers in this position. The entrance to 

 the corolla has now become so narrowed that only the slender 

 proboscis of the butterfly is admitted. Mttller saw a bumblebee 



frequently visited by / 'anessa cardui. 



Of the Vacciniaceae, or huckleberry family, io species are 



'Letters of Asa Gray, vol. ii, p. 692. 



