chap. cxiv.

JEM PETR A 'CETE, ii'M PET RIM.

2507

Description, 4'c. Small evergreen heath-like shrubs, natives of Europe andSouth America. Propagated by cuttings or seeds, and thriving best in peatsoil.

«. 1. E. ni'grum L. The black Crowberry, or Crakeberry.

Identification. Lin. Sp. PI., 1450.; Willd. Sp. PI., 4. p. 713. ; FI. Br., 1072. ; Eng. Bot., t. 525. ;Hook. Scot., 287.; Mill. Illust., t. 86.; FI. Dan., t. 975.; Dicks. H. Sicc., fasc., 2. 10.; Eng, FI.,4. p.233.; Mackay FI. Hibern., p.238.; Hook. Br. FI., p. 431.; Lindl. Synop., p.224.: Lodd.Cat., ed. 1836.

Synonymes. E. mon&num fructu nigro Rail Syn., 444.; E. No. 1605., Hall. Helv., 2. p. 279. ;-Erica Matth. Valgr., 1. p. 139.; Erica baccifera Cam. Epil., p. 77., C/us. Pan., p. 49., Valech.Hist, p. 188., Bauh. Hist., 1. p. 526.; E. coccifera procumbens Ger. Emac., p. 1S83.; E. Cdtisfolio undecima C/us. Hist, 1. p. 45.

Engravings. Eng. Bot.,t. 526.; Mill. Illust., t. 86.; FI. Dan., t. 975.; our Jig. 2375. to our usualscale; and Jig. 2376. of the natural size.

Spec. Char., #c. Leaves linear-oblong. Berries black and clustered. (Hook.)

A procumbent shrub, a native of Britain.

Variety.

«i E. n. 2 scbticum Hook. Br. FI., p. 431., is somewhat smaller than thespecies.

Description, <$rc. A small, procumbent,much-branched shrub; the outer bark ofwhich is deciduous and brown, but theinner bark is yellow. The branches arerough with the remains of the petioles ofthe fallen leaves. The leaves are in fours,somewhat 3-cornered, with a white linearkeel, and petioled; and they have their .margins so much recurved as to meet be-hind. The flowers are axillary towards thesummits of the branches, small, and pur-plish, with a whitish calyx. The berriesare of the size and colour of juniper berries, but become of a brownishblack when ripe. Ttiey are marked at top with a small round hole, and pro-tected at bottom by the persistent calyx. The fleshis rather firm, and of a pale green, except in thecentre, where it is purplish. The receptacle is co-lumnar, and slender; and from 6 to 9 bony pale-coloured seeds are fixed round it in a ring, andi attached to it a little above the base. This species is

, a native of the north of Europe, generally in elevated

situations, both on dry and barren, and on moorish orboggy, soils. It is found in moors, from the Baltic tothe Eastern Ocean, in Kamtschatka, and in the islandstowards America. According to Linnaeus, it will liveon the mountains of Lapland, where other plantsperish with cold. It is found in Warwickshire, Staf-fordshire, Derbyshire, and the northern counties ofEngland, and abundantly in Scotland. The Scotchj Highlanders and the Russian peasants eat the berries,

which are esteemed antiscorbutic and diuretic. Grouse and heathcocksI feed on them; and, boiled in alum water, they afford a dark purple dye.

j Linnaeus mentions that the Laplanders use them for dyeing otter and

I sable skins black. Cattle do not browse on this shrub. The crowberry is

\ the badge of the clan M'Lean. The JS'mpetrum nigrum thrives very well in

I gardens, but it requires a moist boggy soil, and a shady situation. The seeds

remain a year in the ground before they vegetate, and the plants are veryi slow in their growth. (Mart. Mill., and Hook. Brit. FI.)

«- 2. E. ru'brum L. The red-fruited Crowberry.

Identification. Willd. Sp. PI., 4. p. 713.; Lindl. Bot. Reg., t. 1783.