Volume 4 — PLATE CCLXIII. VACCINIUM STAMINIUM. Green-wooded Whortle-berry.

CLASS VIII. ORDER I.

OCTANDRIA MONOGYNIA. Eight Chives. One Pointal.

ESSENTIAL GENERIC CHARACTER.

Calyx superus. Corolla monopetala. Filamenta receptaculo inserta. Bacca quadrilocularis, polysperma.

Cup superior. Blossom of one petal. Threads fixed to the receptacle. A berry with four cells and many seeds.

See Vaccinium aretostaphyllos, Vol. I. Pl. XXX.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Vaccinium foliis oblongo-ovatis, acutis, integerrimis, subtus subglaucis; pedunculis nudis; antheris exsertis; floribus solitariis; stamina decem.

Whortle-berry with oblong-oval leaves, pointed, quite entire, and rather sea-green underneath; fruit-stalks naked; tips without the blossom; flowers solitary; ten chives.

REFERENCE TO THE PLATE.

1. A Flower complete.

2. The Chives and Pointal.

3. The Chives, Pointal, and Seed-bud, magnified.

The species here figured of Whortle-berry, according to the Kew catalogue, was introduced, first, from North America, to us, by Mr. William Young, in the year 1770. It is a hardy, deciduous shrub; grows to the height of three feet; very bushy, with the flowers but thinly scattered over it; they are white, and deeply cut in the border, which is rather inclined to spread. It is increased by layers; the berries seldom ripening in England. A light, sandy peat soil, with a small portion of loam, is the fittest for its growth; and it acquires a higher degree of beauty, when sheltered from the scorching rays of the sun, in summer. Our figure was taken in June, 1801, at the nursery of Messrs. Lee and Kennedy, from a plant which had been imported in February, the same year, from Pennsylvania, North America.