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Dicotyledons with Gamopetalous Flowers. 
Natural Order 
ERICACEAE. Tab. 45. 
Diagnosis.— Shrubs or wiry undershrubs, usually with alternate often 
evergreen leaves. Flowers regular or nearly so. Stamens free from the 
corolla, usually twice as many as its lobes; anthers usually opening by pores. 
Ovary several-celled. 
Distribution. —A large and tolerably homogeneous Natural Order, widely dispersed over the Globe; 
most numerous in cool regions either of latitude or elevation ; rare in Australia and Tropical Africa. 
The principal genus of the Order, Heath (Erica), is remarkably numerous in species in a restricted area 
at the Cape of Good Hope. One or two social species of the same genus cover enormous areas of 
moorland in Northern Europe. 
The genera of Ericaceae may be grouped under the following tribes :— 
I. ERICINEiE.—Corolla gamopetalous, hypogynous. Fruit dry or succulent. 
Number of British Genera, 6; Species, 13. 
II. VACCINIEiEh—Corolla gamopetalous, epigynous. Fruit succulent. 
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Number of British Genera, 2; Species, 4. 
III. PYROLENE.—Uusually herbs. Petals distinct, hypogynous. Fruit capsular. 
