220 
GENERA. 
Tolmiea, Hooker. Pterospora, Nutt. 
Hypopithys, Dill. Schweinitzia, Elliot. 
Monotropa, L. 
Order CLXVI. ERICACE.^. The Heath Tribe. 
Eric^e, Juss. Gen. 1.59. (1789). — Erice.®, R. Brown Prodr. 557. (1810) ; Lindl. Synops. 
172. (1829). — Rhododendra, Juss. Gen. 158. (1789). — Ericine^, Desv. Journ. 
Bot. 28. (1813) ; Don in Edinb. Phil. Journal, p. 150. (1834) ; Klotzsch in Linncea, 
vol. 9. 67. Lilt. (1835). — Rhodorace.® and Ericace^, DC. FI. Fr.3. 611. and 675. 
(1815). 
Essential Character. — Calyx 4- or 5-cleft, nearly equal, inferior, persistent. Corolla 
hypogynous, monopetalous, 4- or 5 -cleft, occasionally separable into 4 or 5 pieces, regular 
or irregular, often withering, with an imbricated aestivation. Stamens definite, equal in 
number to the segments of the corolla, or twice as many, hypogynous, or scarcely inserted 
into the base of the corolla ; anthers 2-celled, the cells hard and dry, separate either at the 
apex or base, where they are furnished with some kind of appendage, and dehiscing by a 
pore. Ovary surrounded at the base by a disk, or secreting scales, many-celled, many- 
seeded; style 1, straight; stigma 1, undivided or toothed, or 3 -cleft. capsular, many- 
celled, with central placentae ; dehiscence various. Seeds indefinite, minute ; testa firmly 
adhering to the nucleus ; embryo cylindrical, in the axis of fleshy albumen ; radicle opposite 
the hilum. — Shrubs or under-shrubs. Leaves evergreen, rigid, entire, whorled, or opposite, 
without stipules. Inflorescence variable, the pedicels generally bracteate. 
Affinities. Formerly separated into two orders by Jussieu, who distin- 
guished Ericese and Rhodoraceae by the dehiscence of their capsule ; a charac- 
ter which is not now esteemed of ordinal importance, and which is conse • 
quently abandoned. The order differs from Vaccinacese and Campanulaceae 
in the superior ovary, from Epacridaceae in the structure of the anthers, from 
Pyrolaceae and Monotropaceae in the structure of the seeds and in habit, and 
from all the orders of which Scrophulariaceae and Gentianaceae may be consi- 
dered the representatives, in the number of cells of the ovary agreeing with 
the lobes of the calyx and corolla. An unexpected transition to Campanula- 
ceae is furnished by the curious genus Calysphyrum. The order has been re- 
modelled by Don, but not upon satisfactor}^ grounds, according to Klotzsch, 
who criticises the arrangement of the former Botanist with extreme severity. 
I do not pretend to judge between these two authors, but until the order has 
been carefully revised I prefer adopting the views of Klotzsch, who is evi- 
dently well acquainted with his subject. 
Geography. Most abundant at the Cape of Good Hope, where immense 
tracts are covered with the species ; common in Europe and North and South 
America, both within and without the tropics ; less common in northern Asia 
and India, and almost . unknown in Australasia, where their place is supplied 
by Epacridacese. 
Properties. Their general quahties are, to be astringent and diuretic; 
Azalea procumbens. Rhododendron ferrugineum and chrysanthemum, and Le- 
dum palustre, being examples of the former, and Arctostaphylos Uva Ursi of 
the latter. This, De Candolle observes, has been confounded wdth Vaccinium 
Vitis Idea by some practitioners, but most improperly, the chemical composi- 
tion of the two plants being extremely different. See Essai MM. 194. An 
infusion of the leaves of Uva Ursi has been employed with success in cases of 
gonorrhoea of long standing. Ibid. The berries of the succulent-fruited 
kinds are usually grateful, and sometimes used as food. Gaultheria procum- 
bens and ShaUon, Arctostaphylos alpina, and Brosssea coccinea, are examples 
