THE CRANBERRY FAMILY 
9 
Flowers globular ; anthers with 2 horns on the back ; leaves deciduous ; berries black. 
(2) Bilberry. (Vaccin'ium Myrtil'lus.) — Flowers solitary in the axils of the leaves ; leaves 
toothed ; stems angular. 
(3) Bog Whortleberry. (Vaccin'ium uliginosum.) — Flowers solitary or 2 or 3 together in the 
axils of the leaves ; leaves entire ; stems round. 
1. Cowberry, Red Whortleberry. (Vaccin'ium Vitis-Idsea. Linn.)— As just 
described. The flowers are about | inch long, pink, bell-shaped, and usually with only 4 lobes, 
5-12 together in dense terminal drooping clusters (racemes) ; the anthers have no horns on the 
back; the berries are red; the stems are 6-10 inches high, wiry, straggling, branched, and 
rather closely packed with deep shining evergreen, oblong leaves, which are very shortly stalked, 
and are similar to those of the Box. 
These berries are sometimes used for cooking instead of Cranberries. After exposure to frost 
they become very acid, and in Sweden, especially, are made into preserve and jelly, which is 
commonly eaten with roast meat. The preserved fruit is also considered to be an excellent remedy 
for sore throats and coughs. Grouse are specially fond of the berries. [ Plate 3. 
Common on mountain heaths in the north and west of England, Cannock Chase, Wales, and 
Ireland. June — September. Perennial. 
2. Bilberry, Whortleberry, Whinberry. (Vaccin'ium Myrtil'lus. Linn.)— Flowers 
about \ inch long, greenish-white or flesh-coloured, globular with 5 very short reflexed lobes, 
shortly stalked, solitary in the axils of the leaves ; the anthers with two curved horns on the back. 
[As described in the genus Vaccinium.] Berries round and black, covered with a bluish bloom. 
Stems from 6 inches to 2 feet high, erect, angular, woody, much branched ; with egg-shaped (ovate), 
toothed, shining, shortly stalked leaves, which are not evergreen (deciduous), and become a most 
glorious rose-red in the autumn. 
The berries of this species are very well known in the British Isles and are universal favourites 
in tarts and preserve. \Plate 3. 
Very common in woods and on heaths in all parts of England except the south-east, and in Wales, 
Scotland, and Ireland. April — June. Perennial. 
3. Bog Whortleberry. (Vaccin'ium uliginosum. Linn.)— A similar plant to the 
Bilberry but smaller, with the flowers shortly stalked, solitary or 2 or 3 together, the calyx and 
corolla 4- or 5-lobed, the stems round, and the leaves not toothed and more strongly 
veined. 
Rare. Bogs and mountainous districts in the north of England, fairly common in Scotland, not 
recorded from Ireland. May — June. Perennial. 
II. CRANBERRY. (SCHOL'LERA. Roth.) — Flowers solitary, on long stalks. Calyx of 
4 sepals, united into a tube which is combined with the seedcase, and separating at the top into 
4 lobes ; corolla of 4 petals, united into a very short tube and spreading into 4 reflexed segments 
(rotate) ; stamens 8, the anthers 2-celled, without horns on the back, each cell being prolonged 
at the top into a tube which opens at the apex by a pore to discharge its pollen ; carpels 4 ; fruit 
a berry, round, 4-celled, and many-seeded, crowned with the calyx-teeth. Slender undershrubs 
with small alternate evergreen leaves. 
Cranberry. (Schol'lera Oxycoc'cus. Roth.) — The only British species. As just 
described. The solitary flowers are about % inch long, bright rose-colour, drooping on long 
