Part 107 (1/2)

6. V. vacillans, Solander. (LOW BLUEBERRY.) _Low_ (1--2 high), _glabrous_, with yellowish-green branchlets; _leaves obovate or oval, very pale or dull, glaucous_, at least underneath, minutely ciliolate-serrulate or entire; corolla between bell-shaped and cylindraceous, the mouth somewhat contracted.--Dry places, especially in sandy soil, New Eng. to Mich. and Iowa, south to N. C. and Mo.--Berries ripening later than those of n. 4.

7. V. corymbsum, L. (COMMON or SWAMP-BLUEBERRY.) _Tall_ (5--10 high); _leaves ovate, oval, oblong, or elliptical-lanceolate_; corolla varying from turgid-ovate and cylindrical-urn-shaped to oblong-cylindrical, 3--4” long.--Swamps and low thickets, throughout our range and southward. This yields the common _blueberry_ or _blue huckleberry_ of the latter part of the season. The typical form has leaves with naked entire margins, and may be p.u.b.escent or glabrous (var. GLaBRUM, _Gray_, Man.) Numerous gradations unite the following varieties:--

Var. am'num, Gray. Leaves bristly-ciliate, s.h.i.+ning above, green both sides, beneath somewhat p.u.b.escent on the veins.--Middle Atlantic States.

Var. pallidum, Gray. Leaves mostly glabrous, pale or whitish, glaucous especially underneath, serrulate with bristly teeth.--Common in the Alleghanies southward, mostly on the higher ridges.

Var. atrococc.u.m, Gray. The most distinct form; leaves entire, downy or woolly underneath even when old, as also the branchlets; berries smaller, black, without bloom.--New Eng. to Penn.

-- 3. VACCINIUM proper. (BILBERRIES.) _Corolla ovate to globular, 4--5-toothed; filaments glabrous; anthers 2-awned on the back, included; berry 4--5-celled; leaves deciduous; flowers on drooping pedicels, solitary or few together, appearing with or after the leaves; mostly glabrous._

[*] _Parts of the flower mostly in fours; stamens 8._

8. V. uliginsum, L. (BOG BILBERRY.) Low and spreading (4'--2 high), tufted; leaves entire, dull, obovate or oblong, pale and slightly p.u.b.escent underneath; flowers single or 2--3 together from a scaly bud, almost sessile; corolla short, urn-shaped; berries black with a bloom, sweet.--Alpine tops of the high mountains of N. Eng. and N. Y., sh.o.r.e of L. Superior, and northwestward. (Eu.)

[*][*] _Parts of the flower in fives; stamens 10; leaves membranaceous; flowers solitary on short axillary peduncles, nodding._

9. V. caespitsum, Michx. Dwarf (3--6' high), tufted, _leaves obovate_, narrowed at the base, smooth and _s.h.i.+ning, serrate; corolla oblong_, slightly urn-shaped; berries blue.--Alpine region of the White Mts., and high northward.--Var. CUNEIFLIUM, Nutt., is a foot high or less, bushy, with cuneate-spatulate leaves rounded at the apex, pa.s.sing in one form to spatulate-lanceolate and acute.--Sh.o.r.es of L. Superior and westward.

10. V. myrtillodes, Hook. More erect, 1--5 high; branchlets somewhat angled; _leaves mostly ovate and acute or pointed_, sharply and closely _serrulate, bright green_, nearly smooth; border of the calyx almost entire; _corolla depressed-globular_, rather large; berries large, black, rather acid.--Damp woods, sh.o.r.es of L. Superior, and northwestward. May, June.--Pedicels 3--6” long, drooping in flower, erect in fruit.

11. V. ovaliflium, Smith. Straggling, 2--12 high; _leaves elliptical, obtuse, nearly entire, pale_, mostly glaucous beneath, smooth; _corolla ovoid_; berries blue.--Peat-bogs, sh.o.r.es of L. Superior, and northwestward. May.

-- 4. VTIS-IDae'A. _Corolla, berry, etc., as in -- 3; filaments hairy; anthers awnless; leaves coriaceous and persistent; flowers in cl.u.s.ters from separate buds, 4-merous (in our species); mostly glabrous; leaves 3--6” long._

12. V. Vtis-Idae'a, L. (COWBERRY. MOUNTAIN CRANBERRY. FOXBERRY.) Low (6--10' high); branches erect from tufted creeping stems; leaves obovate with revolute margins, dark green, smooth and s.h.i.+ning above, dotted with blackish bristly points underneath; corolla bell-shaped, 4-cleft; berries dark red, acid and rather bitter, edible when cooked. Coast and mountains of N. Eng. to N. sh.o.r.e of L. Superior, and far northward.

June. (Eu.)

-- 5. OXYCoCCUS. _Corolla deeply 4-parted or -cleft, with linear reflexed lobes; anthers exserted, awnless, with very long terminal tubes; berry 4-celled; flowers axillary or terminal, nodding on long filiform pedicels._

[*] _Stem upright and leaves deciduous, as in common Blueberries; flowers axillary and solitary; corolla deeply 4-cleft; berries light red, turning purple, insipid._

13. V. erythrocarpon, Michx. Smooth, divergently branched (1--4 high); leaves oblong-lanceolate, taper-pointed, bristly serrate, thin.--Damp woods, higher Alleghanies, Va. to Ga. July.

[*][*] _Stems very slender, creeping or trailing; leaves small, entire, whitened beneath, evergreen; pedicels erect, the pale rose-colored flower nodding; corolla 4-parted; berries red, acid._--CRANBERRIES.

14. V. Oxycoccus, L. (SMALL CRANBERRY.) Stems very slender (4--9' long); _leaves ovate, acute, with strongly revolute margins_ (2--3” long); pedicels 1--4, terminal; filaments fully as long as the anthers.--Peat-bogs, N. Eng. and Penn. to Minn., and northward.

June.--Berry 3--4” broad, often speckled with white when young, seldom gathered for market. (Eu., Asia.)

15. V. macrocarpon, Ait. (LARGE or AMERICAN CRANBERRY.) Stems elongated (1--4 long), the flowering branches ascending; _leaves oblong, obtuse_, less revolute (4--6” long); pedicels several, becoming lateral, filaments scarcely one third the length of the anthers.--Peat-bogs, N. C. to Minn. and everywhere northward, but scarcely westward.

June.--Berry --1' long.

3. CHIoGENES, Salisb. CREEPING s...o...b..RRY.

Calyx-tube adherent to the ovary; limb 4-parted, persistent. Corolla bell-shaped, deeply 4-cleft. Stamens 8, included, inserted on an 8-toothed disk, filaments very short and broad; anther-cells ovate-oblong, separate, not awned on the back, but each minutely 2-pointed at the apex, and opening by a large c.h.i.n.k down to the middle.

Berry white, globular, rather dry, 4-celled, many-seeded.--A trailing and creeping evergreen, with very slender and scarcely woody stems, and small Thyme-like, ovate and pointed leaves on short petioles, with revolute margins, smooth above, the lower surface and the branches beset with rigid rusty bristles. Flowers very small, solitary in the axils, on short nodding peduncles, with 2 large bractlets under the calyx. (Name from ????, _snow_, and ?????, _offspring_, in allusion to the snow-white berries.)

1. C. serpylliflia, Salisb. Leaves 3--4” long; berries 3” broad, bright white. (C. hispidula, _Torr. & Gray_.)--Peat-bogs, and mossy woods, N. J. and Penn. to Minn., and northward; also southward in the Alleghanies to N. C. May.--Plant with the aromatic flavor of Gaultheria or Sweet Birch.