Plate 51. 
EMPETRUM RUBRUM. 
Family, Empetrace^ : — Flowers incomplete, perianth of one whorl, 
unisexual. Sepals, petals and stamens 3. 
Genus, Empetrum : — Small, evergreen, heath-like shrubs. Leaves 
scattered. Flower scales overlapping. Male and female flowers 
on different plants. Petals 3, purphsh-red. Stamens 3. Stigma 
lobed and radiating, with 6-9 rays, lobes truncate, laciniate or 
incised. Fruit a black or red fleshy, spherical drupe, having 6-9 
1-seeded chambers. 
Empetrum rubrum, Vahl. ("Red Crowberry." Ver- 
nacular name in Falkland Islands, " Diddle-dee.") Plant much 
branched, procumbent. Leaves not stalked, crowded, narrow, 
blunt, about | in. long, margins turned back, hairy, lower ones 
reddish, upper bright green. Flowers in axils of upper leaves, 
solitary. Male flower : — Sepals yellowish-green with red tips. 
Petals crimson. Anthers and filaments crimson, the latter long. 
Female flower : — Sepals yellow. Petals crimson, darker than 
in the male flower. Ovary green, 9-celled. Stigma dark 
purple, with 9 rays. Drupe red, taste bitter, resembling that 
of a cranberry. 
Very common in the heath at all altitudes. " Covers miles 
of country as heather does on English moorlands " (Wright). 
Flowers October. 
The fruit is eaten in Arctic regions, being considered to have 
tonic properties, while the dried twigs make excellent fuel. 
Description of plate :— 1 and 2, portion of plant in flower ; 3, male 
flower ; 4 and 5, stamens ; 6, female flower ; 7, pistil ; 8, stigma seen 
from above ; 9, portion of plant in fruit ; 10, fruit ; 11, section of fruit ; 
12, seed. All except 1 and 9 enlarged. 
