116 
ARBUTUS UVA URSI. 
This species * of Arbutus is a small evergreen shrub, indigenous 
to Britain, and found wild on the sand hills in Scotland. It is also a 
native of almost every country of Europe, and of many parts of 
America. 
The root is perennial, long, branched, and fibrous ; the stems are 
about a foot in height, woody, procumbent, spreading, and but 
seldom branched ; the leaves are sessile, oblong, obtuse and nar- 
rower at the base, somewhat thick, smooth, of a shining green, and 
thickly surround the upper part of the stems ; the flowers, which 
appear in May and June, terminate the stems in clusters, upon short 
peduncles: the calyx is small, and divided at the brim into five 
obtuse segments; the corolla is monopetalous, of a pinkish or flesh 
colour, tubular, oval, contracted, and divided at the brim into five 
small reflected segments ; the ten filaments are short, downy, taper- 
ing, and support erect antherae ; the germen is oval, and placed 
above the insertion of the corolla, style tapering, a little longer than 
the filaments, and supporting a simple stigma ; the fruit is a round 
pulpy red berry. 
Sensible Qualities, Properties, &c. — The leaves of bear- 
berry have no smell when recent, but when dried have a smell 
resembling that of good hay ; the taste is slightly bitter, and some- 
what astringent. The sapid matter of the leaves seems to depend 
more upon the presence of a gummy than a resinous principle, 
as its virtues are more perfectly extracted by watery than spirituous 
menstrua.f The powder of the dried leaves is of a light brown ; the 
watery extract is bitter and astringent, of a darkish brown, and in 
smell resembling that of the extract of dandelion, or honey. The 
watery infusion of the leaves is of a yellowish colour, and instantly 
turns black by the addition of a small quantity of sulphate of iron. 
*• Four ounces of the leaves gave twelve drachms of extract, and the 
residuum yielded four scruples of resinous extract, with spirit of 
wine. They contain tannin, bitter extractive, galUc acid, and some 
resin."l The leaves are used in Russia for tanning leather, they are 
also used for dying a brown colour. 
Medical Properties and Uses. The virtues of this plant 
reside entirely in its astringent properties ; hence it has been 
recommended both by ancient and modern writers in various diseases 
* Five species of the Genus Arbntus are cultivated in our botanic gardens. 
Hort. Cant. 
t Murray's App. Med. vol. ii. p. 58. 
J Gray's Elements. 
