HEATH FAMILY. 



209 



tinct. Racemes numerous, with the flowers crowded ; pedicels 1 -3 lines loug, with very 

 small lanceolate bractlets at or near the base ; corolla mostly reddish, with tinges of pale 

 yellowish green. Berries depressed-globose, black and shining when mature, without any 

 bloom. 



Woodlands and swamps : common. May -June. 



Obi>. The genus Gaylussacia, separated from YacciDium on account 

 of its different fruit, contains besides the above-mentioned species two or 

 three others which, as they are not very common, and are not valuable 

 for their fruit, are omitted. Of these the Dwarf Huckleberry, (G. du- 

 mo'sa, Torr. ^ Gr.,) which has very conspicuous bracts to the pedicels, 

 and a bristly or glandular ovary becoming a black insipid fruit, is found 

 near the coast from New-England southward. The first of the species 

 here described is readily distinguished by its long, loose racemes. In 

 New-England it is not much valued, but farther south, where it attains 

 greater perfection, the fruit is highly esteemed. G. resino'sa is the plant 

 which furnishes the larger share of the " black huckleberries" of the 

 northern markets. The fruit presents several varieties, among them 

 one that is nearly white. The flowers of this species as well as the 

 young leaves often become fleshy and expand to many times their natu- 

 ral size ; probably from the punctm-e of some insect. The fruit of both 

 the species described here is known in some parts as " seedy huckle- 

 berries." * 



2. YACCIN'IUM, i. Blueberry. Cranberry. 



[An ancient classical name ; etymology obscure.] 



Corolla either bell-shaped, urn-shaped, or cylindrical, — ^the limb 4-5- 

 cleft, and often reflexed. Stamem twice as many as the lobes of the co- 

 rolla ; anthers with two tubular horns at summit, and sometimes with 

 two bristle-like awns on the back near the base. Berry globose, umbil- 

 icate at apex by reason of the persistent calyx-teeth, 4- 5-celled, — the 

 cells several-seeded. Shrabs with solitary, clustered or racemed flowers ; 

 the corolla white or reddish. 



§ 1. Leaves evergreen ; corolla deeply 4:-paried : anthers 8, aumless, taper- 

 ing upwards into very long tubes ; pedicels slender ; berries acid, red. — 

 Cranberry. 



L V, macrocar'pon, ^it- Stems slender, creeping, with ascending 

 branches ; leaves oblong, obtuse ; peduncles lateral. 

 Large-fruited Yaccinium. Cranberry. 



stem 1-3 feet long, sending up short slender branches. Leaves about }4 an inch long, 

 slightly revolute on the margin, whitish beneath ; ^e^ioZesvory short. Peduncles about an 

 inch long, 1-flowered, InbracteolcUe near the nodding flower. Corolla pale purple ; lobes 

 linear lanceolate, reflexed or revolute. Ben-y globose, % an inch or more in diameter. 



Peatbogs : common northward. Fl. May -Juno. Fr. Oct. 



Obs. This species, so highly valued for its fine acid fruit, grows 

 abundantly in the cold bogs of the Northern states ; the fruit being 

 collected in large quantities for market, and is even a considerable arti- 



