ARCTOSTATHYLOS UVA URSI. 
bear’s grape. 
Class. Order. 
DECANDRIA. MONOGYNIA. 
Natural Order. 
ERICACE^. 
Native of 
Height. 
Flowers in 
Habit 
Inhabits 
Britain. 
6 inches. 
April, May. 
Shrub. 
Mountains. 
No. 613. 
Arctostaphylos is a word compounded from the 
Greek arktos, a bear, and staphule a grape. 
Uva-ursi has a similar meaning, and was the name 
applied to the plant by the herbalists of the six- 
teenth century. It has been the frequent practice 
of botanists thus to retain names of old authors as 
specific names in modern nomenclature. In such 
cases, the specific name has usually been commen- 
ced with a capital letter, to indicate this fact ; but 
to such practice we object, because to render it use- 
ful, the capital letter must, in all other specific 
names, be abandoned ; and as many of these are 
derived from proper names, we esteem such exclu- 
sion of the capital to be an inadmissible encroach- 
ment on the established custom of grammarians. 
This is a remarkably pretty trailing evergreen 
shrub, and deserves to be much more frequently seen 
in British gardens, than it is at present, particu- 
larly when it is known, that it may be cultivated 
without difficulty. Withering says ‘^The berries 
are insipid, pulpy, and mealy. The plant is much 
used in Sweden to dye an ash-colour, and to tan 
leather. Half a dram of the powdered leaves given 
154 Don’s Syst. Bot. 3, 835. 
