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THE HORTICULTURAL STATUS 
 
 OF THt 
 
 GENUS VACCINIUM 
 
 A Thesis Presented to the University Faculty of 
 
 Cornell University for the Degree of 
 
 Doctor of Philosophy, 
 
 BY 
 
 WELTON MARKS MUNSON, 
 
 ITHACA, N. Y. 
 1901 
 
THE HORTICULTURAL STATUS 
 
 OF the; 
 
 GENUS VACCINIUM 
 
 A Thesis Presented to the University Faculty of 
 
 Cornell University for the Degree of 
 
 Doctor of Philosophy, 
 
 BY 
 
 WELTON MARKS MUNSON. 
 
 ITHACA, N. Y. 
 1901 
 
y- 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Introductory i 
 
 Common names i 
 
 Distribution 2 
 
 Historical notes 3 
 
 Uses of the fruit 4 
 
 Use for ornamental planting 7 
 
 Propagation 8 
 
 Cultivation lo 
 
 The blueberry industry I2 
 
 White blueberries i8 
 
 Botanical notes 20 
 
 The natural groups of species 2t 
 
 A horticultural classification 23 
 
 The most important species 25 
 
 Supplementary list of American species 42 
 
 The outlook 42 
 
 Bibliography 43 
 
 Index 47 
 
THE HORTICULTURAL STATUS OF THE GENUS 
 VACCINIUM. 
 
 The members of the genus Vaccinium, though indigenous to 
 this country, and supplying in large quantities fruit which is 
 surpassed in quality by but few of the more generally cultivated 
 species, have received comparatively little attention from horti- 
 culturists. In 1898 a report upon the Blueberry in Maine was 
 published by the Maine Experiment Station. The object of 
 the present paper is to present as concisely as may be the exact 
 status of the group at the close of the nineteenth century, and 
 if possible to extend the knowledge of these plants in such a 
 way as shall insure a more just appreciation of their horticultural 
 value. 
 
 There is much confusion in the vernacular names applied to 
 members of the genus Vaccinium. The terms "Bilberry," and 
 "Whortleberry" usually mentioned as "common names" by 
 American writers, are seldom or never heard among the common 
 people in this country, while "Huckleberry" is often used indis- 
 criminately for plants of this genus and for the Gaylussacias. 
 In the central states the term Huckleberry is usually applied to 
 Vaccinium corymhosum, while Blueberry is given to the low 
 growing species like Canadense and Pennsyhanicum. In New 
 England, Huckleberry is reserved for species of Gaylussacia. 
 while Blueberry is applied to the lower growing species as above, 
 and High-bush Blueberry to corymhosum. There is no satis- 
 factory explanation of the word huckleberry, which in English 
 works occurs only in those of recent date.^ The red berried 
 species are, in general, referred to as cranberries. 
 
 » The Latin writers of tlie midcUe ages generally referred to plants of tlie genus 
 Vaccinium na Myrtillus, and tlie fruit was known as myrtleberry. It is not im- 
 probable that the term Whortleberry is a corruption from myrtleberry (Of. Prior, 
 Pop. Names, Brit. Pits. 121) and that the American colonists further changed the 
 name to "hurtleberry." The transition from hurtleherry to huckleberry was easy 
 by simply dropping the first r. i. e., hntleberry. Others derive the name Whortle- 
 berry from the Anglo-Saxon heort-berg, hart-berry, or as we would say, deer-berry. 
 The question is discussed by Sturtevant in the Transactions of the Massachusetts- 
 Horticultural Society, 1800, p. 18. 
 
In England the common names, as collated by Sturtevant^ 
 are : Whorts or Whortleberries and Bilberries ; in France, 
 Airelle, Aurelle, Myrtilles, M'yrtilles des bois, Bluete; or in 
 Brittany Lucets, and in Normandy Mawrets. In Sweden they 
 are called, in Upland, Blabar; in Smoland, Slinner; in Scania, 
 Bollion; in Lapland, Zirre and Zerre. In Brabant the usual 
 terms are, Crakebesein, Haverbesein and Postelbesein ; in Ger- 
 many, Heydelbeeren, Bickbeeren, Blawbeeren, Schwartzbeeren ; 
 or for some species, Drunkelbeeren, Rauschbeeren, Grosse 
 Heidelbeeren, Moosheidelbeeren, etc. ; in Italy, Myrtillo ; in 
 Russia, Ticherniza, Pjaniza, Goluble, etc.^ 
 
 DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 The genus includes about 125 species of wide geographic dis- 
 tribution, extending from the Arctic circle to boreal sub-tropical 
 regions, and the high mountains of the tropics ; most common 
 in North America and the Himalayas. There are in North 
 America proper about twenty-five species and in Mexico and 
 Central America as many more. The Himalayan region is par- 
 ticularly rich in species many of which are epiphytic. With 
 very few exceptions (e. g. erythrinum in Java and emirnense in 
 Madagascar) the genus is unrepresented in the southern hemi- 
 sphere and in the lower regions of the tropics. 
 
 The most widely distributed species are, perhaps, Myrtilhis 
 and uliginosum, which occur in middle and northern Europe, 
 Asia (except in the central part from the Himalayas to Thian- 
 schan, where all vacciniums are absent), Canada and central 
 North America southward to New York and Colorado, and west- 
 ward to Alaska. Uliginosum, especially, is confined to northern 
 and mountainous regions. Vitis-Idcca, also, has a wide distribu- 
 tion somewhat similar to Myrtilhis. It is common in the higher 
 woodlands and mountains of mid--!!e and southern Europe, in 
 America southward to New England, Lake Superior and British 
 Columbia. 
 
 In several places in Germany, as stated by Drude,^ wild 
 hybrids between the foregoing species and V. intermedium^ 
 Ruthe, are not uncommon. The hybrids have evergreen foliage. 
 
 » Sturtevant, Trans. Mass. Hort. Soc, 1890, 18. 
 » Eng. and Prant. Pflanzenfainilien, 4:51. 
 
Though erythrocarpon, of the southern AUeghanies, is not 
 found in the old world, a very, closely allied species, Japonicum, 
 is found in central Japan and China — these two species forming 
 a unique type intermediate between the blueberries and the cran- 
 berries. In Japan Vaccinium is numerous in species, but, with 
 the exception of the red fruited V. Japonicum and the black 
 ftuited V. ciliatum, they are not very abundant and are mostly 
 confined to alpine summits where the species are found which 
 in the extreme north encircle the earth ; and blueberries nowhere 
 cover the forest floor with the dense undergrowth which is 
 common in our northern woods. ^ 
 
 Of the purely American species, the most important ones are : 
 in the East, ccespitosum, Canadense, corymhosum, Pennsyl- 
 vanicum and vacillans, together with the cranberries, macrocar- 
 pon, Oxycoccus and Vitis-IdcBa; in the South, Myrsinites and 
 virgatum; in the Northwest, myrtilloides and ovalifolium. 
 
 HISTORICAIv NOTe;s. 
 
 The vacciniums have been strangely overlooked alike by horti- 
 culturists and by historians. Pliny, Vergil and Theophrastus 
 make brief reference to them; Dodoens,^ in 1578, and Gerarde^ 
 and Parkinson in the early part of the seventeenth century give 
 brief discussions of several forms. Parkinson says:* "There 
 are divers sorts of these low shrubs which must all go under 
 the name of Whorts or Whortleberries, although there is much 
 difference between them." He then describes nine different 
 sorts, the first two being referred to as "Bilberries." 
 
 In America the fruit must have been used extensively by the 
 Indians in colonial times, though there are few records of 
 such use. Parkinson refers to Champlain who in 1615 found 
 the Indians near Lake Huron gathering blueberries for their 
 winter store. Kalm speaks of the Indians drying the fruit by 
 the sunshine or by the fireside for winter use. Roger Williams 
 mentions: "Attitaash (Whortleberries) of which there are 
 divers sorts; sweet like currants. . . .Sautaash are these currants- 
 
 ^ Sargent, Garr] . & For. 6 :254. 
 
 * Lyte's Dodoens, 670. (1578) 
 
 * Herballe, ed. 2, 1418. (1638) 
 *Theatrum Botanicuni, 1459. (1640) 
 
dried by the natives and so preserved all the year; which they 
 beat to powder and mingle it with their parched meal, and make 
 a delicate dish which they call Sautauthig, which is as sweet to 
 them as plum or spice cake to the English."^ 
 
 Until very recently no attempt has ever been made at improve- 
 ment by cultivation. 
 
 USES OF the; fruit. 
 
 As before noted, the records concerning the uses and distribu- 
 tion of the vacciniums are meagre. Enough is known, how- 
 ever, to indicate that from the earliest times various species have 
 been recognized as of value for food or ornament. Plinv^ 
 mentions the use of vaccinia to dye the garments of bond-slaves 
 to a purple color. 
 
 Dodoens, in 1578, says :^ "With the juyce of them (especially 
 of the black kinde) is made a certayne medicine called of the 
 apothecaries Rob, the which is good to be holden in the mouth 
 
 against great drieth and thirst in hoat agues Fen or 
 
 Marrische (marsh) Whortes doe also quenche thirste, and are 
 good against all evil inflammation or heat of the blood." 
 
 Gerarde also, in 1633, writes:* "The juice of the black 
 Whortleberries is boyled till it become thicke and is prepared or 
 kept by adding honey or sugar unto it : the apothecaries call it 
 Rob, which is preferred in all things before the raw berries 
 
 themselves They be goode for a hot stomacke, they quench 
 
 thirst, and allay the heate of burning agues The people of 
 
 Cheshire do eat the blacke Whortles in creame and milke as in 
 
 these south parts we eat strawberries The Red Whortle 
 
 is not of such a pleasant taste as the blacke, and therefore not 
 so much used to be eaten ; but they make the fairest carnation 
 color in the World." 
 
 Parkinson, in 1640, quotes Gerarde concerning the medicinal 
 value of the "bilberries," and says further:^ "With the juyce 
 of the berries Painters do color paper or cards, doe make a kind 
 
 * Roger Williams' Key, 231; cited by Tuckennan, foot note In Josselyn's N. E. 
 Rarities, 92. 
 
 2 Lib. 16 cop. 18, citeil by Gerarde, Herballe, ed. 2, 1419. 
 « Lyte'9 Dodoens, 670. 
 
 * Herballe, ed. 2, 1419. 
 
 * Tbeatruin Botanicum, 1459. 
 
of purple blew colour, putting- thereto some allome and Galles, 
 whereby they can make it lighter or sadder as they please. And 
 some poor folkes, as Tragus sheweth, doe take a potfuli of the 
 juyce strained whereunto an ounce of Allome, foure spoonfulls 
 of good Wine vinegar, and a quarter of an ounce of the waste 
 of the copper forgings, being put together, and boyled all 
 together, they put their cloth, wooll, thred, or y^rne therein, 
 letting it lye for a good while, which being taken out and hung 
 up to dry and afterwards washed with cold water will leave the 
 like Turkic blew colour, and if they would have it sadder they 
 put thereto in the boyling an ounce of broken Galles." 
 
 As already noted, the most widely distributed member of the 
 group is V. Myrtillus, and this species is very generally used as 
 an article of diet or in making drinks. In the Orkneys the fruit 
 is large and is used for wine.^ The Scotch Highlanders eat the 
 berries in milk and "make them into tarts and jellies, which last 
 they mix with their whiskey to give it a relish to strangers. "- 
 In England they are found in the markets and "are eaten in 
 tarts or v/ith cream or made into jelly, "^ while in Poland, 
 "mixed with wood strawberries and eaten with new milk they 
 are considered a great delicacy."^ In France they are esteemed 
 as a fruit and are used for coloring wine.^ 
 
 The berries are also of considerable importance for food in 
 Germany, Siberia, and with the Indians of the Rocky Mountains. 
 
 V. uliginosunij after Myrtillus the most widely distributed 
 species, has large, juicy, black fruits, which are eatable but not 
 agreeable in flavor as ordinarily found, and are commonly 
 believed to be unwholesome. Gmelin reports their extensive 
 use in Siberia, though there they are believed to promote intoxi- 
 cation. It is probable, as is known to be the case with V. Vitis- 
 Idcea, that in the far North the quality is better than further 
 south. The western Eskimos, according to Seeman, collect the 
 berries and freeze for winter use.'' Of the species, Loudon 
 says :^ "In France they are used to color wines red; and in 
 
 » Dickson, Pr. Essays Hort. Soc, ser. 2, 7:132, cited by Sturtevant, 1. c. 
 
 2 Lightfoot, Fl. Scot. 1:201, cited by Sturtevant, 1. c. 
 
 3 Loudon, Arb. et Fruit. 2:11J57. 
 * Ibid, lloS. 
 
 « Aspelin, Fl. Oecon. 520 (17S4) cited by Sturtevant, 1. c. 
 
 8 Sturtevant 1. c. 
 
 ' Loudon, Arb. et Fruit. 2 :1158. 
 
Siberia and Sweden they furnish an ardent spirit that is highly 
 volatile and intoxicating. The leaves are added to Lycopodium 
 alpiniim by the Icelanders ; and a yellow dye for coloring wool- 
 lens is produced by an infusion of the two plants." 
 
 Of Vitis-Idcea Loudon says ■} "The berries are scarcely to 
 be eaten raw, but they are made into pies in Derbyshire, and in 
 Sweden a rob or jelly is made from them which is eaten with 
 all kinds of roast meat. In Sweden this preserve is also con- 
 sidered an excellent medicine in colds, sore throats, and all 
 irritations of the mouth or fauces. In Siberia the berries are 
 macerated during the autumn and part of the winter in water; 
 and afterwards they are eaten in a raw state, and fermented 
 along with barley or rye, and a spirit distilled from them ; or with 
 honey, and a wine produced. Sweetmeats are also made of 
 them with honey or sugar, which in 1 8 14 we found in frequent 
 use at Moscow at balls and masquerades. The berries of this 
 plant form an important article of commerce in the sea ports 
 bordering the Gulf of Bothnia, whence they are sent to the south 
 of Europe along with cranberries." 
 
 In the colder parts of North America, and along the coast of 
 Maine^ the berries of this species are highly prized for food and 
 are esteemed above the common cranberry for jellies and sauces. 
 
 The berries of V. ovalifoUnm are used largely by the natives 
 of the Northwest in making a dainty which they call le hrou. 
 The berries are gathered before they are quite ripe, pressed into 
 a cake, dried and laid by for winter use. "For use a quantity 
 is put into a vessel of cold water and stirred rapidly until it 
 appears somewhat like soap suds. It is pleasant to the taste, 
 with a slightly bitter flavor."^ Funston, in a recent report on 
 the flora of Alaska, says concerning this species ;■* "A shrub 
 four feet in height, forms a large part of the undergrowth near 
 the coast (Yakutat Bay, Alaska). The dark purple berries, 
 rather larger than peas, are collected in great quantities by the 
 Indians who use them fresh and preserve them for winter, 
 drying the fresh berries by artificial heat. In September, imme- 
 diatelv after the close of the fishing season, nearlv all the women 
 
 » Arb. et Fruit, 2:1165. 
 
 = Harvey, Trans. Maine Pom. Soc, 1895, .52. 
 
 3 R. Brown, Jr., Bot. Soc, Edinburgh 9:384. 
 
 * Contrlb. U. S. Nat'l Herb. 3:No. 6, cited by Gard. and For. 9:70, (1896). 
 
and children devote themselves to collecting and drying blue- 
 berries for winter." 
 
 Of all the American species used for food, the most important 
 .are, perhaps, corymbosum, Pennsylvanicum, Canadense, and 
 vacillans. The first of these, the High-bush Blueberry, or 
 Swamp Blueberry, or "Huckleberry" of the middle west, is of 
 firm texture, good size and excellent flavor. ' The shrub is easily 
 transplanted, grows rapidly on any good soil and, more than 
 any other species, shows a marked tendency to vary in the size, 
 shape and quality of its fruit. It is the natural starting point 
 in attempts to add the blueberry to the list of cultivated fruits. 
 During the past few years it has received considerable attention 
 .as a garden fruit, especially in New England.^ 
 
 The other species named grow mostly on uplands — Pennsyl- 
 vanicum especially, on dry sandy "barrens" — and form the bulk 
 of the blueberry crop as seen in the cities or at the canning 
 factories. 
 
 USE FOR ORNAMENTAL PLANTING. 
 
 Among the plants which lend tone to the landscape in October 
 and November by reason of their bright foliage, many of the 
 species of Vaccinium may be included, the brilliant red, crimson 
 and orange colors often persisting much longer than the bright 
 hued leaves of a majority of other plants. 
 
 Of the ornamental species none are more strikingly beautiful 
 late in the autumn than the ccjm.mon high bush blueberry — 
 V. corymbosum. When well grown it is a stout, thick, spread- 
 ing bush eight to ten feet high. The plant is beautiful when in 
 flower; the fruit is attractive and of the best quality; and the 
 bright scarlet and crimson effects in late autumn, rivalling the 
 sumach in brilliancy, are unsurpassed. As an ornamental plant 
 the species deserves a place in every garden. 
 
 Pennsylvanicum also brightens waste place.-, for a short time, 
 but drops its foliage too earlv to be worthy of planting as an 
 tinder shrub. The same is true of Canadense, which is in many 
 respects similar. Stamineum (the Deerberry), though early 
 deciduous, is attractive when in bloom, and ^'iroughout the 
 summer, by reason of its graceful habit. The deerberry is found 
 
 » The Blueberry in Maine, Rep. Me. Ag. Exp. Sta., 189S, 170. 
 
over a wide range in the northern states and in the mountains 
 south. Though usually found on gravelly soil, it will thrive in 
 any good garden soil, and it is one of the very few ornamental 
 shrubs specially suited for densely shaded situations. Although 
 not abundant in our woods, it is not rare and its chaste beauty 
 entitles it to a place among valuable native ornamental plants. 
 
 Arhoreum, introduced into the Kew Gardens by John Cree in 
 1765, forms an irregular shrub too diffuse and straggling to be 
 of value except in masses at the south. Hirsutum, from the 
 mountainous regions of North Carolina and Alabama, is as 
 beautiful in its autumn coloring as is corymhosum and like that 
 species retains its foliage late in the season. Vitis-Idaa and 
 uliginosum, with their shining box-like foliage, are effectiye as 
 edging for the shrubbery border. Ovatum is characterized by 
 Douglas^ as "one of California's most beautiful hedge plants," 
 but it has as yet received little attention in cultivation. 
 
 PROPAGATION. 
 
 The spread of any plant in cultivation is, to a large extent, 
 dependent upon the activity of progressive nurserymen. If 
 these men find a given class of plants difficult of propagation, 
 such plants are seldom widely cultivated. In the past one chief 
 drawback to the dissemination of the blueberries has been the 
 difficulty, or supposed difficulty, of propagation. The few 
 nurserymen who have offered them for sale have usually 
 depended upon the native heaths and pastures for their supply 
 of plants, rather than upon the nursery rows. The results have 
 been most discouraging, and the blueberries, though among the 
 finest of fruits, are almost unknown in cultivation. 
 
 In the case of the cranberries, propagation is performed almost 
 exclusively by cuttings. With the blueberries grafting is easily 
 performed and in this way specially choice individuals may 
 be perpetuated. For general purposes, however, seedlings or 
 division will be used. Propagation by seed naturally requires 
 care and skill, but is entirely feasible, and the method may be 
 detailed in this connection. At the Arnold Arboretum Jackson 
 Dawson has for many years grown seedling blueberries, and his 
 method is essentially as follows :^ 
 
 »Garci. ana For. 6:116, (1S93). 
 2 Of. Country Gent. 18H5, 660. 
 
Seed pans or boxes, about four inches deep are half filled with 
 potsherds and covered with a layer of sphagnum, after which 
 a compost of the following composition is used : one part good 
 fibrous peat (upland preferred), one part well rotted pasture 
 sod, and one part clean fine sand, free from iron rust. The soil 
 is firmed with the hand, or, better, with a mallet. 
 
 The seed, washed free from pulp of freshly gathered fruit, 
 is then sowed thickly over the surface, pressed down slightly 
 with a board and covered with the slightest possible sprinkling 
 of soil. Over this is put a light covering of sphagnum and water 
 is applied with a fine rose. The boxes are then placed in a cold 
 frame and allowed to get a few hard frosts. About the first of 
 January they are brought to a house with a night temperature 
 of 55 to 60° and a range of 10° higher by day, watched carefully 
 and kept moist but not saturated. As soon as the young seed- 
 lings appear, the sphagnum is gradually removed and a small 
 quantity of compost sifted in among the plants. 
 
 When the first or second true leaf has expanded, the seedlings 
 are pricked out into fresh pans or boxes prepared like the first; 
 slight shade is given on bright days and the atmosphere of the 
 house kept moist by wetting down the walks. The plants them- 
 selves are syringed but slightly, and the temperature is kept as 
 even as possible. 
 
 About midsummer the plants are again handled and the same 
 treatment as before is continued until about Sept. i, when more 
 air and less moisture are given, that the plants may be gradually 
 hardened off and later removed to a cold frame for the winter. 
 As frost approaches, the frames are protected with mats that the 
 foliage may be retained as long as possible. 
 
 After the leaves drop, the frames are covered with a few 
 inches of meadow hay, or litter and ileft for the winter ; except 
 that the frames are opened once or twice each month to admit 
 the air. Early in April a bed, about 18 inches deep, of rich, 
 peaty loam is prepared. In this the young plants are set four 
 to six inches apart, syringed morning and evening and shaded 
 by lath screens during the brightest sunshine until thoroughly 
 established. 
 
 By the end of August all water is withheld, that the wood 
 may ripen off for winter. At the approach of winter a few 
 
10 
 
 inches of loam between the plants, to prevent heaving, is the only 
 protection required. The following spring, or two years from 
 seed, they may be planted out permanently. 
 
 Mr. Dawson has sown seed from September to January and, 
 while most of it grew the first season, some delayed until the 
 second year and then came up well. Seed that is kept until dry 
 and then sown, even in autumn and kept in heat all winter, will 
 seldom germinate until the second year. 
 
 Notes from Maine: At the Maine Experiment Station the 
 writer has grown several hundreds of seedlings and, while in 
 general following the method suggested by Mr. Dawson, has not 
 found the extreme attention to details absolutely essential. Our 
 practice has been to wash the seed from the pulp soon after har- 
 vesting, put it in cloth sacks and stratify in moist sand until early 
 the following spring, allowing it to freeze in the meantime. 
 Seed pans with liberal provision for drainage, are then filled 
 with potting soil, to which is added a considerable portion of leaf 
 mold, and the seed is sown as before described. Partly from 
 force of circumstances, and partly from design, the seedlings 
 were not given the best of care ; but after being handled once 
 were, late in the summer, transferred to the cold frame where 
 they were simply covered with litter during the winter. The 
 following spring they were transplanted into beds, shaded until 
 established, and made a good growth during the summer. 
 Naturally, however, the better care will produce larger plants 
 and, where practicable, should be followed. 
 
 The low blueberry (V. P ennsylvanicum) will usually fruit in 
 from three to four years from seed, but V. corymhosuni requires 
 four to six years. 
 
 CUIvTiVATlON. 
 
 Within the past quarter of a century various spasmodic 
 attempts have been made at the cultivation of the b'ueberrv; 
 though probably, as long as the fields and mountain slopes yield 
 such an abundant natural supply as at present, this section of 
 the genus Vaccinium will not receive the attention, in the way 
 of cultivation and improvement; that its importance deserves. 
 In the wild state the fruit is certainly more worthy of notice 
 than was the blackberry, the raspberry or the currant. 
 
II 
 
 Some writers have the mistaken notion that blueberries require 
 a poor soil. One writer goes so far as to say: "Blueberries 
 will not grow in cultivated ground, neither can they be grown 
 from cuttings nor can their tips be layered. The only possible 
 way to transplant them is to cut a sod from a matted berry patch 
 and transplant it into sod ground. An old worn out pasture 
 makes the best berry land."^ 
 
 Such a statement hardly needs refuting. There is no doubt 
 that the plants will do better if the roots are not too much dis- 
 turbed in removal, but the poor sod land is not a requisite to 
 successful culture. 
 
 In 1868 a successful amateur attempt at cultivation was made 
 by J. W. Scott, Bridgewater, N. Y., but pressure of other work 
 finally crowded it out.- 
 
 About 1875, Jackson Dawson, at the Arnold Arboretum, 
 Jamaica Plains, Mass., began the culture of blueberries from 
 seed, and has demonstrated the possibility of successfully culti- 
 vating most of the more common species.^ 
 
 In 1883, and for a few succeeding years. Professor E. S. Gofif 
 of the New York Agricultural Experiment Station, made some 
 attempts at culture, but the work finally yielded to the pressure 
 of other duties. A similar fate befell like work at the Michigan 
 Agricultural College in 1887. 
 
 In 1886, PVank Ford & Sons, Ravenna, Ohio, offered at least 
 three different species of Vaccinium and one Gaylussacia in their 
 nursery catalog and said: "This much neglected fruit, which 
 is of great value and easy ofi cultivation, ought to be found in 
 every fruit garden. Its perfect hardiness and adaptation to all 
 kinds of soil, render it as easy of cultivation as any of the small 
 fruits, and it can be grown anywhere that corn will grow." 
 
 In 1 89 1 at least three /Vmerican nurserymen offered blue- 
 berries for sale,' and in 1893 as many as nine species were on 
 the market — though not largely grown. 
 
 In 1898, at the Maine Agricultural Experiment Station the 
 work was taken up systematically, and is still in progress. 
 
 1 "S. A. H." Rural New Yorker, 1886, 25-.'. 
 
 2 An. Rep. N. Y. Agr. Exp. Sta., 1S83, 287. 
 
 3 Country Gentleman, 1885, 660. 
 
12 
 
 Several instances oi" the successful and profitable garden 
 culture of blueberries are cited in the /\nnual Report of the 
 Maine Agricultural Experiment Station, i8g8.^ 
 
 While for the production of improved types it will doubtless 
 be necessary to resort to the culture of seedling plants, the length 
 of time recjuired for results and the careful attention to details 
 in the management of seedlings, is well as the uncertainty of 
 results, will restrict such culture tc the experiment stations, or 
 to a few enterprising nurserymen. The ordinary fruit grower 
 may, however, secure a stock of plants from a neighboring 
 pasture or swamp, and by giving the same attention to culture 
 which he would give to currants may secure very satisfactory 
 results. For this purpose, the high-bush blueberry, V. corym- 
 bosnni and its varieties are perhaps the best sorts. They are 
 relatively easy to transplant, either from swamp or upland, and 
 are of good size and very prolific. The variet}^ avioonum is a 
 rather dwarf form with very large berries and grows freely on 
 the upland. J\ I'acillans is the next best species for cultivation 
 as a "small fruit." 
 
 the; blueberry industry. 
 
 Although from the earliest colonial times the blueberry has 
 been highly prized as an article of food, very little attention has 
 been given to the systematic exploitation of our resources in this 
 direction. 
 
 In many of the northern and eastern states — particularly in 
 New England, New York, Michigan and the mountains of Penn- 
 sylvania and West Virginia — there are thousands of acres of 
 land worthless for agricultural purposes which, after the pine 
 is removed, send up an abundant growth of blueberry bushes, 
 alders, poplars, grey birches and spirseas. It is believed that by 
 proper management these lands may be made to yield a hand- 
 some profit to their owners, and furnish employment to a large 
 number of people. 
 
 At the present time these lands are, for the most part, con- 
 sidered as public property, and irresponsible parties, recognizing 
 the fact that the blueberry crop is more abundant on young 
 bushes which spring up after a fire, recklessly burn over vast 
 areas and destroy valuable forests for their own selfish gain. 
 
 iRep. Maine Agr. Exp. Sta. 189S, 170 
 
13 
 
 Although very large quantities of fruit are gathered through- 
 out the northern and Atlantic states, the industry has been more 
 nearly systematized in New England than elsewhere. One 
 writer in 1887 states^ that he ships an average of 1,000 bushels 
 a year from his farm in New Hampshire and as many more for 
 his neighbors. He estimates that on one branch of the Boston 
 & Maine Railroad as many as 20,000 bushels are shipped 
 annuallv. 
 
 TIIK BLUEBERRY BARRENS. 
 
 In the southeastern part of Maine, there are about 150,000 
 acres known as the "blueberry barrens." Much of this land 
 was burned over by the- Indians before the colonial period and 
 since the removal of the timber from the remainder, it too has 
 been repeatedly burned to keep down the growth of birches and 
 alders, and to facilitate the harvesting of the fruit. 
 
 About 40,000 acres of the. barrens belong to Mr. William 
 Freeman of Cherryfield, Maine, who may properly be regarded 
 as the pioneer in the blueberry industry of America. After long 
 and bitter litigation he proved beyond question his right to 
 charge royalty for all fruit gathered on his lands and estab- 
 lished a systematic method of treatment which is applicable, 
 under most conditions, everywhere. The method is somewhat 
 as follows : - . 
 
 » Country Gentleman, 1S87, .'56.i. 
 
14 
 
 The land is divided into several tracts, each of which is leased 
 to some responsible party who assumes the whole care of burn- 
 ing, keeping off trespassers, harvesting and marketing the fruit. 
 The owner receives, as rental, one-half cent per quart for all the 
 fruit gathered. 
 
 The pickers receive from one and a half to three cents per 
 quart ; those who lease the land and haul the fruit to the canning 
 factory, or to the station for shipment, one-half to one cent per 
 quart, — the rate being determined, in accordance with the 
 market values, by the firm which handles the product. The fruit 
 is all canned or shipped by one firm which keeps a record of the 
 amount as it is brought in, and pays the royalty to the owner. 
 
 Every^ year a certain section of each "lease" is burned over. 
 This burning must be done very early in the spring, before the 
 soil becomes dry ; otherwise the fire goes too deep, the humus 
 is burned from the ground and most of the bushes are killed. 
 Many hundred acres on what should be the best part of the 
 "barrens" have thus been ruined. The method most commonly 
 used in burning a given area, is for the operator to pass around 
 the section to be burned, dragging after him an ordinary torch 
 or mill-lamp. He then retraces his steps and follows over the 
 burned area, setting new fires in the portions which have escaped 
 and back-firing if there is danger of spreading unduly over 
 areas which it is desired to leave unburned. A device occasion- 
 ally used consists of a piece of one-half inch gas-pipe, bent at 
 the end at an angle of about 60 degrees. The end opposite the 
 bent portion is closed with a cap or plug, and in the other end, 
 after filling the pipe with kerosene, is placed a plug of cotton 
 waste or tow. This device is by many regarded as superior to 
 the lamp or torch, as it is more easily handled. Each section of 
 the lease is usually^ burned over every third year. 
 
 By far the largest proportion of the fruit is taken to the fac- 
 tories for canning. Early in the season, however, before the 
 factories are opened, a considerable amount is shipped to the 
 larger cities for use while fresh. This fruit is usually shipped 
 in quart boxes, shown in the figure. The blueberries have an 
 advantage over other small fruits in that, with the exception of 
 currants and gooseberries, they will stand rough handling better, 
 and will keep longer than the others. 
 
15 
 
 A BOX OF BLUP: BERRIES. 
 
 All of the early fruit is picked by hand, and only the ripe 
 berries are gathered. Later in the season, particularly on "old 
 burns," i. e. on areas which will have to be burned over the next 
 year, the fruit is gathered with a "blueberry rake." This is an 
 implement somewhat similar to the cranberry rake in use on 
 Cape Cod, and may be likened to a dust pan, the bottom of which 
 is composed of stiff parallel wire rods. The fruit may be 
 gathered much more quickly and more cheaply by means 
 of the rake. The bushes are, however, seriously injured 
 by the treatment. In no case should the rake be used in gather- 
 ing the high-bush blueberries. As the berries are gathered they 
 are passed through a fanning mill before being sent to the can- 
 ning factory; and again, at the factory, they are submitted to a 
 much stronger winnowing. This is usually the only preparation 
 necessary. 
 
 Wm. Freeman, Esq., Cherryfield, Maine, may properly be 
 regarded as the father of the blueberry industry in America. 
 His account of the beginnings of the industry is given herewith. 
 
i6 
 
 The canning- of blueberries on a commercial scale was begun in 
 Maine as early as 1866 when A. L. Stewart of Cherryfield 
 packed some of the fruit procured from the neighboring wild 
 lands for the Portland Packing Company. J. W. Jones, a 
 pioneer in the corn packing industry, was engaged in tlie can- 
 ning of blueberries in 1870, as were also William Underwood 
 and Company, Jonesport, Maine. 
 
 BLUEBERRY RAKE. 
 
 Before canning the fruit was deemed practicable, "the plains" 
 were considered common property and people came for fifty and 
 even one hundred miles for a week's outing and to gather blue- 
 berries for their own use, and to sell to the merchants of neigh- 
 boring cities and villages. The timber on the plains was fast 
 being destroyed by fires which were set by the blueberry pickers 
 and, in 1870, Mr. Freeman, who owned some forty thousand 
 acres of the wild land, decided to charge a small royalty for the 
 fruit picked on his lands. Most of the packers paid the small 
 amount demanded without question, but the Underwood Com- 
 pany refused and after repeated attempts to get them to recog- 
 nize his right of property, a suit for trespass was instituted 
 by the owner. The trespass continuing, other suits were 
 brought and the case was finally. carried to the supreme court 
 before it was decided. The final decision was a complete victory 
 for Mr. Freeman — a judgment of $1,700 being granted and the 
 
17 
 
 right of owners of public lands to sell "stumpage" for blueberry 
 or other fruits being established once for all. Mr. Freeman's 
 action not only benefited other owners of wild lands, as well as 
 himself, but it resulted in the perfect system of management 
 already detailed. 
 
 A BLUEBERRY CANNING FACTORY. 
 
 The financial importance of the blueberry industry is very 
 difficult even to estimate at the present time. In Maine the 
 canning of blueberries is largely in the hands of a few leading 
 packers. The largest of these factories has a daily capacity of 
 700 bushels and the average annual output is 8,300 cases of two 
 dozen cans each ; representing 6,250 bushels of fresh fruit. The 
 average price per case for the canned fruit is $1.90. In other 
 words, the value of the annual product of this one factory is 
 not far from $15,000.^ 
 
 There were in 1900 seven factories in Maine which engaged 
 in canning blueberries. These were as follows : 
 
 J. and E. A. Wyman, Cherryfield, 
 
 Burnham and Morrill, Harrington, 
 
 ' Tliis is the Wvnifln frctory wliicli hnndlcs Mr. Froeimm's fruit. Aswillbe 
 .«epn, Mr. Kreeinitn'.s royally will iiiiiount to Sl.oiin, -uml tlii.- from liind which isj 
 ■otherwise vvorthle^s. 
 
i8 
 
 L. A. and A. R. Logic, Columbia Falls, 
 
 J. A. Coffin, Columbia Falls, 
 
 A, L. Stewart and Son, Cherryfield, 
 
 lyawrence Bros., Jonesboro, 
 
 L. A. and A. R. Logic, Vanceboro. 
 
 The value of these factories is about $50,000. Those at Jones- 
 boro and Vanceboro were erected in 1900. 
 
 The number of hands employed in the various factories would 
 aggregate about a hundred, but including the pickers, there are 
 from one thousand to two thousand men, women and children 
 employed in the blueberry packing industry during the canning 
 season. About $30,000 are distributed among the pickers each 
 year. 
 
 The total canned product of the "blueberry barrens" in 1899 
 was about 50,000 cases and the price per case was $2.20, making 
 the value of the blueberry crop in this one small section con- 
 siderably more than $100,000. 
 
 In northern Michigan large quantities of fruit are shipped each 
 year but there is no systematic management of the blueberry 
 lands. The Western Express Company, through the courtesy of 
 the Superintendent, Mr. S. A. Davis, records the following ship- 
 ment of blueberries in northern Michigan for 1900: Saulte Ste, 
 Marie, 650 cases (16 quarts each) ; Sturgeon River, 38 cases; 
 Ispheming, 544 cases ; Wetmore, 220 cases ; Marquette, 200 
 cases; Seney, 1,719 cases. 
 
 The last season was a very poor one for blueberries in upper 
 Michigan, the crop having been largely destroyed by late frost. 
 Large quantities are usually shipped from Baraga, whereas none 
 were shipped last year. From Wetmore, which reports 220 
 cases, the normal shipment is about 3,000 cases, and Sturgeon 
 River which reports but 38 cases is usually one of the best ship- 
 ping points. 
 
 white; BI^UE^BE^RRItlS. 
 
 White or pinkish fruits, instead of the usual deep blue colored 
 berries, are not uncommon in certain localities. In some cases 
 these are simply albino forms ; in others the color is due to a 
 fungous growth. In the gardens of the Maine Experiment 
 Station some of the albino forms are now fruiting, and, aside 
 from the color, they are perfectly normal. 
 
19 
 
 Albino forms of certain species — as V. Myrtillus — were early 
 observed. Dodoens, in 1578, mentions "some that beare white 
 Berries when they be rype, howbeit they are but seldome seen."^ 
 White fruits are catalogued by Ruppius in Flora Jenensis in 
 1726, and were found by Gmelin in Siberia in 1768.^ In 1854, 
 John Booth of Floetbeck nursery, near Hamburg, Germany, 
 offered for sale plants of a white fruited form of V. Myrtillus 
 which had been obtained from the Black Forest.^ A white 
 fruited form of Vitis-Idcea is also noted as occurring at Lyng- 
 dalen in the province of Christiansand in 1761.* 
 
 V. PENXSYLVANICUM, ALBINO. 
 
 White fruited forms of Pennsylvanicum and corymhosuni 
 have been observed by the writer ; white vacillans is reported in 
 
 1 Lyte's Dodoens 670. 
 
 2 Cited by Sturtevant/Trans. Mass. Hort. Soc. 1890, 25. 
 
 3 Loudon, Arb. et Fruit; 2:n57. 
 *F1. Dan. 1:9. 
 
20 
 
 Garden and Forest, 1893, and other species are recorded.^ 
 Ascherson and Magnus- have made a special study of the color 
 and form variations of Vaccinium, and citations are given which 
 show the very general distribution of albino forms throughout 
 the world. 
 
 No special reason for this difference in color can be assigned. 
 The white forms are found growing (usually in colonies) by 
 the side of the normal type. If exposed to full sunlight, the 
 fruit is very likely to have a blush cheek, or even to be of a 
 scarlet color. 
 
 The albino forms must, however, be carefully distinguished 
 from the "white berries" caused by the presence of a fungous 
 growth. One of these white forms was described in 1859 by 
 Doll as V. Myrtilliis var. leucocarpon. But in 1879 Schroeter 
 showed that the white color was due to a fungus which he called 
 Pesisa baccarum (now Sclerotinia baccarum).^ Ten years 
 later Woronin gave a full account of similar white berries found 
 by him in Finland on Vitis-Idcea, Oxycoccus and uliginosum, — 
 three species which are also common in the United States — and 
 of the fungus producing the color.* 
 
 BOTANICAL NOTES. 
 
 Vaccinium (Origin of the name obscure) ; Vacciniacece. 
 'Branching shrubs, creeping vines or small trees (sometimes 
 epiphytes), with alternate, often coriaceous, evergreen or decid- 
 uous, sometimes membranaceous leaves ; flowers small, white, 
 pinkish or reddish in lateral racemes or terminal clusters, some- 
 times solitary in the axils, mostly nodding on slender bracted 
 pedicels and bearing blue black or red berry-like fruits, mostly 
 edible. Calyx 4-5 toothed, adherent to the ovary, persistent, 
 forming a crown-like appendage to the fruit. Corolla various 
 in shape, usually campanulate, cylindraceous or urn-shaped, 
 rarely sub-globose, 4-5 toothed or cleft. Stamens distinct, 
 included within the corolla tube or exserted ; anthers often 
 2-awned at the back, the cells separate and prolonged upward 
 
 1 Garden and Forest 8:503, i\<95). 
 
 2 tJerichte d. deut. Bot. Gesell. lSOO,"3ST-4r)0. 
 
 3 Gard. and For. 2 r.oO, (1S89). 
 *>Ieni. Acad. St. Petersburg, 18S8. 
 
21 
 
 into tubes at the apex, opening by terminal pores or chinks. 
 Pistil single, with a 4-5 or 8-10 celled ovary which is glabrous 
 or hirsute. Flowers in spring with or before the leaves, berries 
 ripe in summer and autumn, sweetish or sometimes acid, mostly 
 edible. 
 
 THE NATURAL GROUPS OF SPECIES. 
 
 In making the following natural divisions of the genus I have, 
 in general, followed Bentham and Hooker, but have included 
 the group Oxycoccus, after Gray in Synoptical Flora. When 
 two closely related forms occur over a wide range in latitude, 
 the assigned differences are very liable to fail at some point. 
 
 Key to the Groups. 
 
 A. Ovary 4-5 celled (rarely 8-10 celled in Vitis-Idsea). 
 B. Stamens exserted 
 
 C. Filaments villous Oxycoccoid^S. 
 
 CC. Filaments puberulent Oxycoccus. 
 
 BB. Stamens included 
 
 C. Filaments glabrous or pubescent Euvaccinium. 
 
 CC. Filaments pilose Vitis-Id^a. 
 
 AA. Ovary locelled (sometimes imperfectly so in Cyanococcus). 
 B. Anthers with two awns on the back. . . Batodendron. 
 BB. Anthers awnless Cyanococcus. 
 
 OXYCOCCOIDES, B. & H. 
 
 Erect branching shrubs with deciduous membranaceous leaves 
 and berries of Bnvaccinium, but with corolla of true Oxycoccus: 
 flowers solitary, axillary, on long pedicels, pedicel bractless, but 
 minutely 2-bracteolate at the base. V. erythrocarpon 
 
 V. Japonicum 
 
 Oxycoccus. {Oxycoccus, Pers.) Gray. 
 
 Corolla deeply 4-cleft or 4-parted ; the lobes linear or lanceo- 
 late-oblong, reflexed ; stamens 8, exserted, anthers awnless, with 
 very long terminal tubes ; ovary and berry 4-celled ; flowers, pale 
 rose-colored, axillary and terminal, nodding on long filiform 
 pedicels ; appearing in early summer ; fruit maturing in autumn. 
 C. Stems very slender, creeping. ...... F. Oxycoccus 
 
 CC. Stems stouter, with ascending branches 
 . . V. maorocarpon 
 
22 
 
 EuvACCiNiuM, Gray. 
 
 Corolla ovate to globular, more or less urceolate, 4-5 toothed, 
 rose or white ; filaments glabrous ; anthers 2-awned, included ; 
 ovary and berry 4-5 celled with no false partitions ; leaves decid- 
 uous ; flowers drooping, solitary or 2 or 4 together, developing 
 with or soon after the leaves. 
 
 C. Corolla commonly 4-lobed ; stamens 8 V. nh'ginosum 
 
 CC. Corolla commonly 5-lobed; stamens 10. 
 D. Plants dwarf, a foot or less high. 
 
 E. Branches not angled V. ccespitosum 
 
 Ef^. Branches sharply angled V. Myrtillus 
 
 DD. Plants taller, 1—12 feet high. 
 
 E. Margins of leaves sharply serrulate. 
 
 V. myrtiUoides 
 EE. Margins of leaves entire (except in ovali- 
 JoUum) . 
 F. Size of leaves }-2 in. long. 
 
 V. ovalifoli'um 
 FF. Size of leaves H-H in. long. 
 
 V. parvifoUum 
 V. Mortinia 
 
 ViTis-Idaea (Koch.) Gray. 
 
 Corolla cylindraceous, ovate, or globose-campanulate, more or 
 less urceolate, rose or nearly white, 4-5 lobed, stamens included, 
 filaments hairy; anthers awnless (or with short awns) ; leaves 
 coriaceous and persistent ; flowers in short racemes or clusters 
 from separate buds ; bracteate and 2-bracteolate. 
 
 C. Ovary 5-celled ; stamens 10. 
 
 D. Branchlets pubescent V. ovatum 
 
 DD. Branchlets glabrous V. crassifolium 
 
 CC. Ovary 4-celled ;, stamens 8. 
 
 D. Branches short (3-4 in.) from creeping stems 
 
 V. Vitis-Idaea 
 Batodendron, Gray. 
 
 Corolla open-campanulate, 5 lobed ; anthers tipped with long 
 slender tubes, and 2-awned on the back; ovary and (hardly edi- 
 ble) berry falsely lo-celled ; leaves rather firm in texture but 
 deciduous ; flowers axillary and solitary or in leafy-bracted 
 racemes, slender pedicelled, bractlets minute or none. 
 
 C. Anthers included V. arboreum 
 
 CC. Anthers exserted V. stamineum 
 
2-', 
 
 CyanococcuSj Gray. 
 
 Corolla cyjindraceous to campanulate-oblong or ovoid, 5- 
 toothed ; filaments hairy ; anthers awnless, included ; ovary and 
 berry more or less lo-celled by false partitions; berry blue or 
 black, usually with bloom, edible, many seeded ; flowers, short 
 pedicelled, (white or rose) in fascicles or very short racemes, 
 developed with or a little before the leaves ; buds separate, large, 
 scaly ; bracts and bractlets caducous or deciduous. 
 C. Foliage evergreen, coriaceous. 
 
 D. Calyx-teeth roundish and very dense. V. nitidum 
 
 DD. Calyx- teeth acute V. Myrsinites 
 
 CC. Foliage deciduous (sometimes tardily so in southern 
 forms) . 
 
 D. Corolla cylindraceous V. Virgatum 
 
 DD. Corolla short and usually broad. 
 
 E. Branchlets hirsute V. Jiirsutum 
 
 EE. Branchlets glabrous or glaucous (except in 
 V. Canadense). 
 F. Leaves glaucous and pale beneath. 
 
 V. vacillans 
 FF. Leaves strongly pubescent both sides. 
 
 Vi Canadense 
 and var. atrococcxim of corymbosum 
 FFF. Leaves glabrous, often hairy on mid- 
 rib beneath. 
 . C Margin of leaves bristly-serru- 
 late. 
 H. Fruit mostly blue. glaucous. 
 V. Pennsylvanicum 
 HH. Fruit black. . . V. nigrum 
 GC Margin of leaves entire or at 
 most ciliate. V. corymbosum 
 
 A HORTlCUIvTURAI, CLASSII^ICATIGN. 
 As already indicated, the genus under consideration includes 
 many species of particular importance as food plants, others 
 which are useful only for ornament, and some which are valuable 
 for both purposes. The following key to the more commonly 
 known species is based upon leading horticultural characters. 
 
24 
 
 A. Cultivated chiefly for fruit. 
 
 B. Color of fruit red. 
 
 C. Stems slender, trailing ; leaves evergreen. 
 
 D. Apex of leaves acute Oxycoccus^ 
 
 DD. Apex of leaves obtuse or refuse. 
 
 macrocarpon 
 
 CC. Stems stouter though creeping ; branches erect, 
 
 tufted Vitis-Idaea 
 
 CCC. Stems erect, much taller (2-10 feet). 
 
 D. Leaves small (>^-/i inch long). 
 
 jyarviJoUum 
 BB, Color of fruit blue or black. 
 
 C. Platit low, >2-3 feet high. 
 
 D. Foliage evergreen. 
 
 E. Leaves small (M-^ inch long) . 
 
 oiitidum- 
 
 EE. Leaves larger (K-1 inch long). 
 
 Myrsinites 
 DD. Foliage deciduous. 
 
 E. Surface of leaves glabrous. 
 
 F. Leaves pale beneath, not 
 shining above . . . , vacillans 
 \2a' . loalUdum of corymbostim 
 FF. Leaves not paler beneath (ex- 
 cept sometimes in Pennsyl- 
 vanicum) ; shining, at least 
 above. 
 G. Flowers solitary in the 
 axils. 
 H. Branches sharply 
 angled. 
 
 Myrtillus- 
 HH. Branches not 
 angled. 
 
 ccBspitosum 
 
 GG. Flowers in fascicles or 
 
 short racemes. 
 
 H. Fruit blue, glaucous 
 
 Pen7isylvanicum. 
 
 HH. Fruit black. 
 
 iiigrum 
 
25 
 
 EE. Surface of the leaves hairy. 
 
 F. Ovary and fruit glaucous. 
 
 Canadense 
 
 FF. Ovary and fruit hirsute. 
 
 hirsutum 
 CC. Plant taller (3—12 feet), spreading. 
 D. Flowers solitary in axils. 
 
 E. Leaves sharply serrate .. m^/^■^t7?o^■des 
 EE. Leaves entire or slightly serrulate 
 
 ovalifoUum 
 DD. Flowers in racemes or corymbs. 
 
 E. Racemes elongated on naked 
 
 branches virgatum 
 
 EE. Racemes shorter corymhosum 
 
 AA. Cultivated chiefly for ornament. 
 B. Plants low, 1 — 2 feet high. 
 
 C, Stems creeping, with branches erect or as- 
 cending. 
 D. Leaves small, shining crassifoUum 
 
 DD. Leaves larger, pale or glaucescent. 
 
 uliginosum 
 
 CC. Stems erect ; twigs red erythriniim 
 
 BB. Plants taller, 2-20 feet high. 
 
 C. Foliage evergreen, rigid ovatum 
 
 CC. Foliage deciduous. 
 
 D. Surface shining above, more or less 
 
 pubescent beneath o.rboreum 
 
 DD. Surface paler above, glaucous beneath. 
 
 stamineum 
 DDD. Surface bright green both sides. 
 
 erythrocarpon 
 
 THE MOST IMPORTANT SPECIES. 
 
 V. Oxycoccus, L. (Small Cranberry) 
 
 Linnaeus, Sp. PL 351, 1753- 
 
 (Synonyms: Oxycoccus palustris, Pers., Syn. PI. 1:419; 
 Oxycoccus vulgaris, Pursh. Fl. i : 263.) 
 
 Slender creeping plants with short (4-10 inch) filiform stems, 
 leaves ovate, acute or acuminate, 34 ii^ch long, with revolute 
 
26 
 
 margins ; pedicels 1-4, terminal ; corolla deeply 4-parted, the lobes 
 reflexed ; anthers exserted, with very long terminal tubes ; berry 
 red, globose, /4-/^ inch in diameter, 4-celled. (Figured: 
 Sowerby, Eng. Bot. ed. i, 5:319; Schlecht., Fl. von Deutch. 
 20:2039; Reich., Icon. Fl. Germ. 17, t. 1169.) — Sphagnous 
 swamps, Europe, north and middle Asia, North America, Green- 
 land to Japan mostly in sub-arctic and alpine regions, Newfound- 
 land to Alaska and southward to mountains of Pennsylvania, 
 common on rocky islands along the coast of Maine. The cran- 
 berry of the old world. It is distinguished from the next species, 
 the American Cranberry, by its very small pointed leaves, rarely 
 ^ inch long, and by the short ovate segments of the corolla as 
 well as by the terminal inflorescence. Though smaller, its fruit 
 is by many considered superior to^ that of the next. 
 
 V. macrocarpon, Ait. (Larger American Cranberry) 
 Alton, Hort. Kew, 2: 13, 1789. 
 
 (Synonyms: V. oxycoccus var. ohlongifolius, Michx. Fl. Bor. 
 Am. 1 : 228; Oxycoccus macrocarpus, Pursh. Fl. i : 263.) 
 
 Stems slender, creeping, elongated (1-4 feet), the flowering 
 branches ascending; leaves oblong or oval, obtuse or retuse, 
 yz-y2 inch long; whitened beneath; pedicels several, axillary and 
 lateral ; berry red or reddish, globose or pyriform, J^-i inch long. 
 (Figured: Ait. Hort. Kew, ed. i, 2: 13, t.7; Bot. Mag. t.2586; 
 Emerson, Trees and Shrubs of Mass., ed. 5, 2 : 456 ; Meehan, 
 Flowers and Ferns 2 : 28 ; Wein, III. Gart. Zeit. i : 81 ; as Oxy- 
 coccus macrocarpus Bart. Fl. i, t.17.) — Peat bogs, Newfound- 
 land to North Carolina and westward. 
 
 This is the common large fruited cranberry, under cultivation 
 in Massachusetts, New Jersey and elsewhere. 
 
 V. Vitls-Idaea, L- (Cowberry, Mountain Cranberry, Foxberry) 
 
 Linnaeus, Sp. PI. 351, 1753- 
 
 (Synonyms: V. Punctatiim, Lam. Fl. Fr. 3 : 396 ; V. puncti- 
 foliuni, Stokes, Bot. Mat. Med. 2 : 363 ; V. buxifolvum, Gillb. Fl. 
 Lituan. 1:4; V. nemorosum, Salisb. Prod. 291.) 
 
 Plants low (6-10 inches) ; branches erect from tufted creeping 
 stems ; leaves coriaceous, persistent, obovate or oval, ^-^ inch 
 
2'J 
 
 long, dark green and shining above, with blackish bristly points 
 l3eneath ; flowers in short terminal racemes ; corolla white or rose- 
 colored, 4-cleft; berries dark red, acid, rather bitter. (Figured: 
 Fl. Dan. t.40; Lodd., Bot. Cab. t.6i6 (as var. "major"); Bot. 
 Cab. 1023 (var. "minor").) Arctic regions of Europe, Asia 
 and Greenland to Japan; south to- the coast of New England, 
 Minnesota and British Columbia. 
 
 A low, evergreen, shrubby plant which grows in cold and 
 •elevated situations in the northern parts of both hemispheres. 
 The blossoms are very delicate and the fruits, which are rather 
 larger than currants, acid and somewhat bitter when uncooked, 
 are largely used in the more northern regions for tarts, jellies 
 and preserves, or as a substitute for the common cranberry. 
 According to Macoun (Gard. and For. 2: 508), the fishermen's 
 families along the Gaspe coast and the north shore of the Gulf 
 of St. Lawrence, gather the fruit of this species in large quanti- 
 ties, for their own use and for sale, calling it "Low-Bush Cran- 
 iDcrry." Throughout the whole of northern Canada, hunters and 
 trappers, as well as the native Indians, have frequently to depend 
 upon it for food. 
 
 The plant spreads rapidly, is hardy and requires no special 
 care. It is valuable for the shrubbery border where the strong 
 contrast of the dark green foliage and the bright colored per- 
 sistent fruit is verv strikine. 
 
 V. parvifolium, Smith. 
 
 Smith in Rees Cycl. no. 13, 1817 ; Gray S3'n. Fl. 2 : 24. 
 
 Shrub 6-12 feet high, straggling; with slender, green, sharply 
 angled branches ; leaves oblong or oval, obtuse, entire, dull or 
 pale, }i-}i inch long; flowers solitary in the axils, corolla globu- 
 lar, nearly white, calyx 5-lobed ; berries light red, rather dry. 
 (Figured: Hook. Fl. Bor. Am. t.128.) — ^Shady and low woods, 
 northern California, near the coast to Alaska. 
 
 A somewhat straggling shrub, offered for sale by one nursery- 
 man. Of interest rather than of special merit. T. J. Howell of 
 Oregon characterizes the fruit as "of good flavor, excellent for 
 tarts," while Gray, says "rather dry, hardly edible." 
 
28 
 
 V. erythrocarpon^ Micbx. 
 
 Michaux, Fl. Bor. Am. i : 227, 1803. 
 
 (Synonyms: Oxycoccus erectus, Pursh, Fl. 1:264; O. ery- 
 thro carpus, Elliott, Sketches i, 447.) 
 
 Shrub, erect, divergently branching 1-4 feet high; leaves 
 oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, serrate, thin, lyi-Z inches long;; 
 pedicels solitary, axillary, bractless ; corolla flesh-colored, Yz inch 
 long, 4-cleft, revolute, berries globose, 3^ inch in diameter, light 
 red, turning to deep blue-black at full maturity, watery, slightly- 
 acid, "of exquisite flavor," Don. (Not usually regarded as val- 
 uable.) {Figured: Bot. Mag. t.7413; (as Oxycoccus erectus) 
 Wats. Dendrol. Brit, i, t.31) — Damp woods, higher Alleghanies- 
 Virginia to Georgia, July. 
 
 A remarkable species in that it combines the flower structure 
 of the Oxycoccus group wth the erect habit and foliage character 
 of the other vacciniums. The specific name is somewhat mis- 
 leading since, when mature, the fruit is similar to the blueberries,, 
 though without the disitinct crown of the persistent calyx, found 
 in other vacciniums. 
 
 The species was introduced into England in 1806 by Loddiges, 
 but has been cultivated only in botanic gardens. 
 
 A closely allied species, V. Japonicum, Miquel., (Miq. Ann. 
 Mus. Bot. Eugd. Bot. i : 28, 1863 ; Maximowicz, Diagnoses PL 
 nov. Jap. et Mand., in Bui. Acad. Sci. St. Petersburg 8 : 603,. 
 1871) is found in central and northern Japan, but has not been 
 introduced into cultivation. 
 
 V, nitidum, Audr. 
 
 Andrews, Bot. Rep. t.480, 1805. 
 
 A diffusely much branched shrub, with smooth branchlets,. 
 leaves thick coriaceous, shining above, obovate or oblong; 
 flowers in fascicles on short racemes ; the almost persistent bracts 
 as well as the roundish or obtuse calyx-teeth reddish ; corolla 
 short campanulate, 5-toothed ; berry "somewhat pear-shaped,, 
 black." {Figured: Bot. Rep. t.480.) — Low pine barrens,. 
 Florida and Georgia. (Near to or passing into Myrsiniies). 
 
29 
 
 V. Myrsinites, Lam. 
 
 Lamarck, Encyc. i : 73, 1783. 
 
 {Synonym: V. nitidum var. decumhens, Sims, Bot. Mag. 
 
 ^550-) 
 
 Low evergreen shrub, erect or decumbent; branches, when 
 
 young, puberulent; leaves exceedingly variable, oblong-lanceo- 
 late and acute to obovate and obtuse, ]/[-i inch long, entire or 
 serrulate, sometimes denticulate, mostly shining above; bracts 
 and calyx-teeth acute or acutish ; berries "globose, blue." 
 {Figured: (as V. nitidwn var. dectmibens) Bot. Mag. t.1550) 
 — Sandy pine barrens. North Carolina to Florida and Louisiana. 
 
 The difference between this species and the preceding is 
 obscure. The chief points of distinction seem to be that 
 Myrsinites has puberulent branchlets, prominently veined leaves 
 and acute calyx-teeth and bracts; while nitidum has smooth 
 branchlets, smaller and faintly veined leaves, with obtuse or 
 roundish calyx-teeth and bracts. 
 
 The species is grown as a pot plant in cool houses in England 
 under the name of V. Sprengelii. (Card. Chron. n. s. 19:473, 
 1883). 
 
 V. vacillans, Kalm, (Low Blueberry, Blue Huckleberry) 
 
 Kalm in Herb. Banks ; Torr., Fl. N. Y., i : 444, 1843. 
 
 {Synonyms: V. vacillans Solander, Gray, Man. ed. i, 261 ; 
 V. virgatum Bigelow, Fl. Bost., ed. 2, 152; V. Pennsylvanicum 
 Torr., Fl. N. U. S. i : 416, in part.) 
 
 Erect, glabrous, with pale yellowish-green branchlets; leaves 
 obovate or oval, entire or sparingly serrulate ; flowers in rather 
 loose clusters, generally on leafless summits of twigs ; corolla 
 campanulate or cylindraceous, contracted at the mouth ; berries 
 large, blue, with much bloom, of excellent flavor, ripening with 
 V. Canadense. {Figured: Emerson, Trees and Shrubs of 
 Mass., ed. 5, 454.) — Dry, sandy or rocky places, Maine to North 
 Carolina, westward to Michigan and Missouri. 
 
 One of the most common species of the northern and central 
 states, particularly west of the Alleghanies. The flowers, on 
 terminal and lateral naked branchlets, yellowish white, often 
 tinged with red, are quite showy ; while the fruit is particularly 
 
30 
 
 valuable. The only form it is likely to be confused with is 
 variety pallidum oi coryinbosum and from this it is distinguished 
 by the veins and ribs of its leaves being perfectly smooth. Well 
 worthy the attentio?i of cultivators. 
 
 V. Myrtillos, (Whortleberry, Bilberry) 
 Linnsus, Sp. PI. 350, 1753. 
 
 (Synonym: V. myrtilloides, Watson, Bot. King Exp. 209, not 
 of others.) 
 
 Low shrubs, glabrous ; leaves ovate or oval, serrate, con- 
 spicuously veined, /^-/^ inch long; calyx almost entire; berries 
 black, nodding. {Figured: Reichenb., Ic. Fl. Germ. 17:118, 
 t.1169; Eng. Bot., ed. i, 7:456; Schlecht., Fl. von Deutch. 
 20:2036; Twin. 111. Nat. ord. 2:83.) — Mountainous regions 
 Alaska to Colorado and Utah ; Europe, Asia. 
 
 The most widely distributed species and very generally used as 
 an article of diet and in the making of drinks, particularly in the 
 old world. It is from this species that the common name whor- 
 tleberry is derived, as stated elsewhere. Not of special import- 
 ance in America. 
 
 V. caespitosum^ Michx., (Dwarf Bilberry) 
 Michaux, Fl. Bor. Am. i : 234, 1803. 
 
 A very dwarf tufted shrub, 2-12 inches high; nearly glabrous 
 throughout ; leaves obovate, obtuse or acutish, serrulate, shining 
 on both sides ; flowers solitary, corolla obovoid, pink or white, 
 slightly 5-toothed (rarely 4-toothed) ; berries large, globose, blue 
 with bloom, sweet. {Figured: Bot. Mag. t.3429.) — Hudson's 
 Bay and Labrador to Maine and New Hampshire, also alpine 
 summits of Adirondacks ; in the Rocky Mountains, Colorado and 
 Utah to Alaska, east to Lake Superior. 
 
 It is doubtful if varieties can be distinguished. Var. arbus- 
 cula, Gray, passes into the ordinary form ; while angustifolium, 
 Gray, and cuneifolium, Nutt., are found to be simply forms pro- 
 duced by shade. The latter form, particularly, is common in 
 New England and early in the season the leaves are of the ordi- 
 nary obovate type, while later they, become elongated. 
 
31 
 
 A boreal or Canadian species of rather limited distribution in 
 the East, common in Maine north of latitude 44° 50' ; not found 
 in Labrador north of latitude 54°. York, Maine, is the most 
 southern station known. It is generally regarded as a plant of 
 the highest alpine summits in New England, but it is not uncom- 
 mon in other localities throughout central and northern Maine. 
 It is abundant at Orono, and Fernald has found that "in the val- 
 leys of the Penobscot and its tributaries, the Piscataquis, the 
 Mattawamkeag, and the Wassataquoik, the plant is to be found 
 on almost any ledgy or gravelly riverbank." Most abundant in 
 the valley of the upper St. John. 
 
 V. Pennsylvanicum, Lam. (Low Blueberry) 
 Lamarck, Encyc. i : 72, 1783. 
 {Synonyms: V. myrtilloides, Michx., Fl. Bor. Am. i : 223 ; V. 
 tenellwm, Pursh, Fl. 1:288 and Bigel. Fl. Bost. 150, not Ait; 
 V. angiistifolmm, Ait., Hort. Kew, ed. 2, 2:356; V. multi- 
 Horium, Dunal in D. C. Prod. 7 : 572 ; V. salicinum, Aschers. 
 Flora, i860, 369, not Cham. ; V. multiUorum, Wats. Dendr. Brit. 
 t.125 ( ?) ; V. ramulosum and humile Willd. Enum. Suppl. 
 
 20(?).) 
 
 A dwarf shrub (6-15 inches) with slender greenish, warty, 
 mostly glabrous branches ; leaves membranaceous, oblong-Ian- , 
 ceolate or oblong, distinctly serrulate with bristle-pointed teeth, 
 mostly shining on both sides but often hairy on midrib beneath ; 
 flowers on short pedicels ; corolla campanulate-cylindrical, short ; 
 berries large, globose, bluish-black with bloom, sweet ; the earli- 
 est to ripen north. {Figured: Bot. Mag. t.3434 ; Emerson, Trees 
 and Shrubs of Mass., ed. 5, 2:456; (photo.) Rep. Maine Agr. 
 Exp. Sta. 1898, 171.) — Dry hills and woods Newfoundland and 
 the Saskatchewan southward to New Jersey and Illinois. 
 
 Var. angustifolium, Gray, (Man. ed. i, 261) A dwarf form, 
 with more decidedly lanceolate leaves. V. angustifolium, Ait. 
 I. c, V. salicinum, Aschers, 1. c, not Cham. Summits of moun- 
 tains northern New York and New England, Quebec to north 
 shore of Lake Superior and northward. 
 
 This species is extremely variable in size and shape of fruit 
 and flowers, but yvith the exception of the variety noted, and the 
 black fruited form often associated with it, which is set off as 
 
z^ 
 
 V. nigritm, the variations do not appear sufficient!}^ constant to 
 warrant making separations. In general, the plant is of low, 
 semi-prostrate habit, is extremely prolific and thrives on dry 
 sandy hills. It furnishes the bulk of the blueberries found in the 
 eastern markets. When mown down or burned, the new erect 
 shoots produce, the following year, a long spike-like mass of 
 bloom and fruit which may be stripped off by handfuls. 
 Because of its character, and early ripening habit, it is known on 
 the blueberry plains as "early sweet" or "low sweet." 
 
 V. PEXSSYLVANICUM. 
 
 V. nigrum^ Britten, (Low Black Blueberry) 
 
 Britton, Mem. Torr. Club 5 : 252, 1894. 
 {Synonym: V. Pennsylvanicum var. nigrum, Wood, Bot. and 
 Flor. 199, 1873.) 
 
33 
 
 Low shrub, similar to V. 
 Pennsylvanicum and often 
 associated with it. Leaves 
 oblong-lanceolate to obovato, 
 finely serrulate, green above, 
 pale and glaucous beneath ; 
 flowers few in the clusters, 
 white or cream colored, ap- 
 pearing earlier than those of 
 Pennsylvanicum ; berries 
 rather small, black without 
 bloom. (Figured: (photo.) 
 Rep. Maine Exp. Sta., 1898, 
 171.) — Dry rocky soil, 
 Maine to New Jersey, west- 
 ward to Michigan. 
 
 The species is distin- 
 guished from the preceding 
 by the glaucous under sur- 
 faces of the leaves and by the 
 characteristic shining, black 
 fruit. It is usually found in 
 colonies in the same situa- 
 tions as Pennsylvanic%im; 
 but occasionally the two 
 species will be found intermingled. 
 
 V. NIGRUM. 
 
 V. Canadense, Richards. (Canada Blueberry) 
 
 (Named by Kalm in Herb Leche, now in Herb Banks ; Rich- 
 ardson, in Frankl. ist Jour. ed. 2, App. p. 12; Hooker, Fl. Bor. 
 Am. 2:32. Synonym: V. album. Lam. Encyc. 1:73, not L.) 
 
 Erect shrubs, 1-2 feet high, the crowded branchlets downy- 
 pubescent; leaves oblong-lanceolate or elliptical, entire, downy 
 both sides ; corolla short, open-campanulate, greenish-white, 
 often tinged with red ; berries globose or oblate, blue with much 
 bloom, of excellent flavor. {Figured: Bot. Mag. t.3446.) — 
 Low woods, Hudson's Bay to Bear Lake and the northern Rocky 
 Mountains; south to New England, mountains of Pennsylvania 
 and Illinois. 
 
 3 
 
34 
 
 This species, commonly known as "sour top" or "velvet leaf" 
 because of the character of its foliage and the somewhat acid 
 fruit, usually grows in rather moist, rocky, not swampy locali- 
 ties. The fruit is larger and more acid than the other low forms 
 and matures from one to three weeks later. It is not so popular 
 in the general market as the sweeter kinds, but it is very prolific 
 and its lateness in ripening is a point in its favor. 
 
 V. CANADENSB. 
 
 V. hirsuturr, lluckley, (Hairy Blueberry, Bear Huckleberry) 
 
 Buckley, Am. Jour. Sci. 45: 175, 1843; Sargent, Gard. & For. 
 
 2:365- 
 Low shrub, 1-2 feet high, the stems green, grooved, obscurely 
 4-angled, thoss of the current year covered with stout, spreading, 
 white hairs; leaves ovate, entire and, together with the pure 
 
35 
 
 white, campanulate, corolla, the calyx and the dark blue globose 
 fruit, hirsute. (Figtired: Gard; and For. 2: 365.) — Mountains 
 •of Cherokee County, North Carolina, (Buckley, Sargent) ; Tal- 
 lulah Falls Caiion, Georgia, (J. K. Small) ; Cade's Cove Moun- 
 tains, Tennessee, (A. Ruth). 
 
 This species, discovered about 1840 by B. S. Buckley "in the 
 mountains of Cherokee County," North Carolina, was lost sight 
 ■of for half a century until re-discovered by Sargent at Robbins- 
 ville, Graham County, North Carolina in 1887, when it was 
 transferred to the Arnold Arboretum. Practically nothing is 
 known of its geographical distribution or habitat. It is readily 
 ■distinguished, however, by the hairy flower and fruit. 
 
 The fruit is described as fully as large as that of Gaylussocia 
 resinosa, shining black, and of an agreeable flavor. Under culti- 
 vation not so densely hairy as in the wild state. Gives promise 
 ■of being valuable under cultivation as one of the latest of its kind 
 to ripen, — at the Arnold Arboretum the best period of fruitage 
 being the middle of August, berries remaining into September. 
 It is probable that good results might be obtained by hybridizing 
 ■with V. corymbosuni or V. Canadciise. 
 
 V. myrtilloides, Hook. (Gray). 
 
 Gray, Man., ed. 5, 291 ; Syn. Fl. 2: 24, not Michx. 
 
 (Synonym: V. membranaceum, Douglas ined.) 
 An erect branching shrub mostly glabrous throughout, the 
 twigs slightly angled ; leaves oval, oblong or ovate, acute, serrate, 
 membranous, green both sides but not shining, 1-2 in. long: 
 calyx entire; corolla depressed-globular, yellowish or greenish 
 white ; berries large, oblate, black, rather acid. (Figured: Bot. 
 Mag. t.3447.) Moist woods. Lake Superior to the coast of 
 Oregon and British Columbia, 
 
 The berries are large >^-^ inch, oblate, with broad calyx; of 
 excellent flavor; much relished by the natives of the northwest. 
 (Howell, in Case Bot. Index, 1881, 38.) 
 
 V* ovalifolium, Smith. 
 Smith, in Rees Cycl. no. 2, 1817; Hook, Fl. Bor. Am. 2:33. 
 A slender, straggling, branched shrub 3-12 feet high, with 
 slender, more or less angled branchlets ; leaves oval, obtuse, glab- 
 rous, green above, glaucous beneath ; flowers solitary, on short 
 
36 
 
 recurved pedicels, corolla globose-ovoid; berry large (ys-yz 
 inch) bluish-purple, with bloom. (Figured: Hook. Fl. Bor. 
 Am. 2:33, t.127) — Woods, Quebec to Michigan, Oregon and 
 Alaska. 
 
 This species is very abundant in the northwest, forming a 
 large part of the undergrowth along the southern coast of 
 Alaska, (Funston) ; but, like many other plants of a similar 
 range it extends eastward through the region of the Great Lakes 
 and the St. Lawrence River. The berries, rather larger than 
 peas, are collected in great quantities by the Indians who use them 
 fresh and dry them for winter. The exceptionally large berries 
 and vigorous habit of this species suggest its value for cultiva- 
 tion and particularly for crossing with the low. growing species 
 such as P ennsylvanicum and Canadense. 
 
 V* vifgatum, Ait. 
 Aiton, Hort. Kew, ed. i, 2: 12, 1789. 
 
 (Synonyms: V. ligustrinum, Pursh, Fl. Am. Sept., i : 288, 
 not L. ; V. fuscatum Ker., Bot. Reg. t.302 ( ?) ; V. BUiottii, 
 Chapm., Fl. So. U. S. 260.) 
 
 A shrub 3-12 feet high, with slender, green branches, the 
 young twigs puberulent; leaves narrowly oval-oblong, acute, 
 often mucronate, entire or minutely serrulate, green and glab- 
 rous above, pale or glaucous beneath, %-2 inches long ; flowers in 
 short racemes on naked twigs ; appearing before the leaves ; 
 bracts small, deciduous.; corolla nearly cylindrical, white or pink ; 
 berry black with or without bloom. (Figured: Bot. Rep. t.i8i ; 
 Bot. Mag. t.3522; (as V. ftiscatum) Bot. Reg. t.302.) — Swamps, 
 southern Virginia to Florida and Louisiana. 
 
 Var. tenellum (Ait.) Gray, (Syn. Fl. 2:22). A low form, 
 mostly less than 2 feet, with smaller leaves and nearly white 
 flowers in short close clusters. (V. tenellum^ Ait. 1. c, not 
 Pursh ; V. galesans Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. i : 232 ; V. galiformis. 
 Smith, Rees' Cycl. no. 16) — Southern Virginia to Arkansas, 
 Florida and Alabama. Probably a distinct species. 
 
 The distinction between this species and the next is very slight. 
 It is probable that, possibly excepting var. tenellum, this is only 
 a southern form of corymbosttm and should be reduced to 
 varietal rank, following Don (Gard. Diet. 3 : 854). 
 
37 
 
 V» corymbosum^ L. (High-bush Blueberry, Swamp Huckleberry) 
 
 Linnaeus, Sp. PL 350, i753- 
 
 {Synonym: V. disomorphum, Michx., Fl. Bor. Am. i : 223.) 
 A tall, straggling shrub 4-12 feet high, with yellowish-green, 
 warty, branchlets which later turn brownish; leaves ovate or 
 oblong to elliptical-lanceolate, usually entire ; flowers in short 
 racemes on naked twigs ; corolla ovate to urn-shaped, or oblong- 
 cylindrical, white or pinkish; berries blue-black with much 
 bloom, of excellent flavor. (Figured: Emerson, Trees and 
 
 V. CORYMBOSUM. 
 
 Shrubs, ed. 5, 2:454; Am. Ag. 1886, 364.) — Moist woods or 
 swamps, Newfoundland and Canada to Michigan and Minne- 
 sota; through eastern United States to Louisiana; rather rare 
 in the Mississippi .valley. Exceedingly variable, and numerous 
 gradations unite the several varieties. 
 
38 
 
 Var. amoenum, Gray, (Man., ed. 5, 292), a form with 
 bristly-ciliate, serrulate leaves, bright green both sides, shining 
 above, often pubescent on veins beneath. (V. amcenum, Ait., 
 Hort. Kew., ed. i, 2: 12; Bot. Rep. t.138; Twin. 11 1. Nat. Ord, 
 2 : 83, 6; Bot. Reg. 400. Figured, as V. corymbosum, Bot. Mag. 
 t-3433-) Mainly in the Middle Atlantic States. 
 
 Var. pallidum, Gray, 1. c, a pale and glaucous or glaucescent 
 form, with or without some pubescence ; ovary more completely 
 inferior, generally low ; otherwise resembling amcenum. (V. pal- 
 lidum, Ait. 1. c. ; Gray, Man. ed. i, 262. V. alhiUorum, Hook,. 
 Bot. Mag. t.3428. V. Constahlcei, Gray, Am. Jour. Sci. 42: 42). 
 Common in mountainous regions southward. 
 
 Var. fuscatum. Gray, (Syn. Fl. 2:23), a tall form with the 
 mature and entire leaves fiiscous-pubescent beneath ; flowers 
 virgately somewhat spicate on the naked flowering twigs. (V. 
 fuscatum. Ait., 1. c.) Alabama and Florida to Louisiana and 
 Arkansas. 
 
 V. corymbosum is one of the most valuable species both for 
 fruit and as an ornamental shrub. It thrives in the garden and 
 is readily susceptible of improvement by cultivation. Toward 
 the south it approaches V. virgatum, Ait., and var. pallidum may 
 be confused with V. vacillans, Kalm. 
 
 V. atfococcum, Heller, (Black Blueberry) 
 Heller, Torr. Buh. 21:24, 1894.. 
 
 (Synonyms: V. disomorphum, Bigel. Fl. Bost., ed. 2, 151, not 
 Michx. ; V. corymbosimi var. atrococcum, Gra)'', Man., ed. 5, 
 292.) 
 
 A branching shrub with shreddy bark, similar to V. corym- 
 bosum. Leaves oval or oblong, dark green above, densely 
 pubescent beneath, entire, acute, often mucronate ; flowers in 
 short racemes, appearing with the leaves ; berry black without 
 bloom, sweet. Moist woods and swamps, Canada to Pennsyl- 
 vania and New Jersey. 
 
39 
 
 V. crassifolium, Anclr. 
 Andrews, Bot. Rep. t.105, 1798. 
 
 (Synonyms: V. carnosnvi^ Pers. Syn. PI. 1:479; ^- '^nyrti-' 
 folium, Michx. Fl. i : 228.) ' 
 
 Slender, trailing shrub ; stems 2-3 feet long, glabrous ; leaveij 
 small, /4-/^ inch long, oval or narrowly oblong, sparsely serru- 
 late or entire, shining; flowers few, almost sessile, in small 
 axillary clusters, nearly white, or tinged with red ; berries black. 
 (Figured: Bot. Rep. t.105; Bot. Mag. t.1152.) — Sandy bogs, 
 near the coast. North Carolina to Georgia. 
 
 Useful for the shrubbery border, south. 
 
 V. uliginosum^ L. (Bog Bilberry ) 
 Linnaeus, Sp. PI. 350, 1753. 
 
 (Synonym: V. gaulthcrioidcs, Bigel. New Eng. Med. Jour. 
 
 5:3350 
 
 A stiff, much branched shrub ^^-2 feet high ; leaves thick, 
 obovate or oval, obtuse or retuse, ]/>-! inch long, nearly sessile; 
 flowers 2-4 together, or sometimes solitary ; calyx 4-parted, 
 sometimes 5-parted ; corolla urn-shaped, 4 or 5-lobed, pink ; 
 stamens 8-10; berries bluish-black with bloom. (Pigiired: Fl. 
 Dan. t.231 ; Reichenb. Ic. Germ. 17, t,ii68; Sowerby, Eng. Bot. 
 6:878 (Ibid. ed. i, 9:581); Deakin, Flor. Brit. 2, 19, 630; 
 Schlecht., Flor. Deutch. 20:2037; Pratt, Fl. PI. 3:351.) — 
 Labrador to New England ; mountainous regions of New York ; 
 Lake Superior to Alaska. Also in northern Europe and Asia. 
 
 Usually considered a high mountain species, but found by the 
 writer on the blueberry barrens of eastern Maine and reported 
 as abundant along the ledgy shores of the Carrabassett River 
 (Fernald) and along the St. John at Fort Kent (Furbish) in 
 the same state. The varieties ■miicroii.ifnm Herder, and micro- 
 phyllum, Lange, the former from Alaska and the latter from the 
 west coast of Greenland, lat. 70° (Schuchert and White, Torr. 
 Bui. 27: 66) are not of importance. 
 
 The plant is useful for the shrubbery border in cold wet 
 locations, and its .fruit though of poor quality, is used for food 
 by the natives of the northwest. 
 
40 
 
 V» erythfinum, Hook. 
 
 Hooker, Bot. Mag. t.4688, 1852. 
 
 An erect, glabrous, evergreen shrub with bright red twigs; 
 leaves ovate, obtuse, coriaceous, entire ; flowers in long, one- 
 sided, terminal racemes ; corolla cylindraceous, 5-toothed,3^ inch 
 long, purple, reddish. (Figured: Bot. Mag. t.4688; Lemaire, 
 Jard. Fl. 4: 364; Jour, of Hort. 34: 39.) — Mountainous regions, 
 Java. 
 
 Sent to England in 1852 and since grown by various nursery- 
 men as a greenhouse pot-plant. It is a strong plant, furnishing 
 an abundance of bloom in December and January. Not remark- 
 able, but worthy a place in collections. A very distinct type, 
 the only other representative of which, so far as observed, is 
 V. Rollisoni, Hook, (Bot. Mag. t.4612). 
 
 V. ovatum, Piu-'5b, 
 Pursh, Fl. Am. Sept., i : 290, 1814. 
 
 (Synonyms: V. la.nceolatum Dunal in D. C. Prod. 7:570; 
 Metagonia (Pyxothaninus) ovata, Nutt., Trans. Am. Phil. Soc. 
 ser. 2, 8: 262.) 
 
 An erect, rigid, evergreen shrub, 3-8 feet high, Avith pubescent 
 branchlets ; leaves very numerous, thick, shining, ovate or oblong, 
 acute, serrate ; flowers numerous, in short axillary clusters, fol- 
 lowed by dark purple fruit of agreeable flavor. (Figured: Bot. 
 Reg. t.1354; Lemaire, Jard. Fl. 4: 424.) — Vancouver's Island to 
 Monterey, California. 
 
 A distinctly western species, and one of California's most 
 beautiful hedge plants, but not well known. V. ovatum is very 
 tenacious of life and bears pruning well ; propagated from 
 suckers, cuttings, and seeds which it bears freel}^ ]\Iost abund- 
 ant on the northern mountain slopes of the coast range ; but also 
 found growing luxuriantly on southern slopes exposed to bright 
 sunhght. (T. H. Douglas, Card. & For. 6: 116, 1893). 
 
 V. arboreum, Marshall, ( F'avkleberry, Sparkleberry) 
 Marshall, Arbust. Am. 157, 1785. 
 
 (Synonyms: V. diffusum, Ait. Bot. Mag. t.1607, Batodendron 
 arboreum Nutt., Trans. Am. Phil. Soc. ser. 2, 8 : 261 and Sylva, 
 3:43-) 
 
41 
 
 Spreading shrub or small tree 6-25 feet high, with glabrous 
 or somewhat pubescent branchlets; leaves thinnish-coriaceous, 
 smooth and shining above, obovate to oblong, entire to obscurely 
 denticulate ; flowers profuse, axillary and leafy racemose ; corolla 
 white, 5-lobed; berry small, globose, rather astringent. {Figured: 
 Lodd. Bot. Cab. t.1885; as V. diffusum, Bot. Mag. t.1607.) — 
 Sandy soil along river banks, Florida and Texas to North Caro- 
 lina and Illinois. 
 
 The flowers are solitary and axillary along the terminal 
 branchlets, each pedicel being curved near the flower. The 
 leaves on these flowering branchlets are only about half the size 
 of other leaves on the same branches, though in other respects 
 similar. Some regard these leaves as bracts, and regard the 
 inflorescence as "leafy racemose." 
 
 The species was introduced into the Kew Gardens in 1765 by 
 John Cree. It forms an irregular shrub too diffuse and strag- 
 gling to be of value except in masses, for which purpose it is 
 useful at the south. 
 
 V, staminettm, L. (Deerberry, Squaw Huckleberry) 
 Linnaeus, Sp. PI. 350, 1758. 
 
 (Synonyms: V. elevatum Solander; Dunal in DC. Prod., 
 7: 567. V. album, Pursh, Fl. Am. Sept. i : 285, not L.) 
 
 A divergently branched shrub 2-5 feet high with pubescent or 
 glabrous twigs ; leaves oval to oblong-lanceolate, acute, entire, 
 pale, glaucous or sometimes slightly pubescent beneath, 1-4 
 inches long, ^-ij^ inches wide; flowers very numerous in large, 
 leafy-bracted racemes ; corolla green, 5-cleft ; lanthers and style 
 exserted ; fruit large, globose or pyriform, greenish or yellowish, 
 few-seeded, almost inedible. {Figured: Bot. Rep. t.263. V. 
 stamineum H. B. & K. t.353, the V. Kimthianum, Klotzsch, has 
 shorter anther tubes and a hairy ovary.) — Dry woods and 
 thickets Maine to Minnesota, south to Florida and Louisiana; 
 rare west of the Alleghanies. 
 
 The Deerberry is found over a wide range in the northern 
 states and in the mountains south. It is also recorded as one 
 of the principal _ plants of the dry pine barrens of southern 
 Georgia (Harper). It is usually found naturally on gravelly 
 
42 
 
 soils in the shade of deciduous trees^ — particularly black oaks — 
 but will thrive on any good, well drained soil and is a valuable 
 shade-enduring ornamental shrub. 
 
 Var. melanocarpum, Mohr, (Southern Gooseberry, Mohr, 
 Torr. Bui. 24:25, 1897). Shrub 2-3 feet high, branched from 
 near the base; leaves as in the type, flowers in loosely 4-8 
 flowered elongated racemes ; berries twice the size of the typical 
 form, shining black, with a juicy purple pulp, sweetish, with 
 slightly tart pleasant flavor. Rocky shaded hills in the mountain 
 region of central and northern Alabama. (Mohr).^ 
 
 Supplementary List of American Species. 
 
 The following species from various parts of America have been 
 described but as a rule are little known : 
 
 From Mexico: angustifolium Benth (not Ait.); confertum, 
 H. B. & K. ; cordattim,liemsl. ; eriocladiim Dunal ; geminiflorum, 
 H. B. & K. ; Kunthiamim, Klotzsch ; leucanthemum, Schlecht. ; 
 micranthum, Dunal ; Schlechtendallii, G. Don ; villosum, Smith. 
 
 From Central America : consangiuneum, Klotzsch ; pachy- 
 phyllum, Hemsl. ; secundum, Klotzsch. 
 
 From South America; afRne, Klotzsch; Alaternoides, H. B. 
 & K. ; caracasanum, H. B. & K. ididymanthum, Dun., (Rusby)^; 
 Uorihiinduni, H. B. & K., (Rusby) ; penceoides, H. B. & K., 
 (Rusby) ; pernettyoides, Griseb. (Rusby). 
 
 From the West Indies : assimile Wright ; Cubense Griseb. ; 
 meridionale bw ; Poasanum, Donn. Sm.^ 
 
 THE OUTLOOK. 
 
 As has been shown, the vacciniums are widely distributed, 
 particularly in eastern and northern United States and Canada ; 
 and there are vast areas which, while bearing a considerable 
 number of bushes and yielding a profitable return to the few 
 people who make a practice of gathering the wild fruit, are not 
 utilized as they might be. The systematic treatment of the wild 
 lands as described in the foregoing pages might with profit be 
 extended to many other sections. 
 
 There are also large areas, otherwise worthless, which might 
 
 > Professor Mohr in a personal letter to the writer states that he will raise this 
 variety to specific rank in a forthcoming work:— Alabama Plant Life. 
 
 2 Collected by Rusby, Torr. Bui. 20 : 13S. 
 
 3 Species described by Donnel Smith in Bot. Gaz. 24:395, 1897. 
 
43 
 
 without doubt be made to yield good returns if, in some way, a 
 growth of blueberries could be started — either by setting bushes 
 or by scattering seed. The most valuable species for this pur- 
 pose are Pennsylvanicum, Canadense, and vacillans. Although 
 this suggestion may be regarded as visionary, it is quite within 
 the range of possibilities. 
 
 Another phase of the subject which is worthy of careful 
 attention is that of domestication and the improvement of types 
 by selection. During the last half century the cultivation of the 
 cranberry has become an important and well established industry 
 and several valuable types have been produced. Little has ever 
 been attempted, however, in the garden culture of the blueberry ; 
 thoup-h there is no doubt that satisfactory results may be 
 obtained. The fruit in its wild state is far superior to that of 
 most other small fruits and is very susceptible to the influence 
 of environment. At the Maine Agricultural Experiment Station 
 systematic cultural experiments are now in progress and in 
 Massachusetts cultivation has been practiced by amateurs with 
 encouraging results. The most promising species for this pur- 
 pose, as well as for ornamental planting, is the high-bush 
 blueberry Vaccinium corymbosum. The natural varieties and 
 improved forms of this species may readily be perpetuated by 
 division or by grafting. 
 
 In general, it is probable that within a very few years a race 
 of garden blueberries, rivaling in importance some of the best 
 of the other small fruits, will be placed before the public, and 
 the culture of the blueberry will be as much a matter of course 
 as is that of the blackberry or the raspberry. 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY. 
 
 The literature of the Vacciniums is fragmentary and widely 
 scattered. No attempt has been made to collate all of the refer- 
 ences to the genus, but below is given a list of the more impor- 
 tant monographs which are usually accessible in this country, 
 together with the leading articles in horticultural books and 
 journals. 
 
44 
 
 Monographs and Floras. 
 AiTON, W. T. Hortus Kewensis ed. 2, 5 vols., 1810-13. See 
 
 2:355-9- 
 BiGELOW, Jacob. Florula Bostoiiiensis, ed. 2, 1824, see pp. 
 
 150-4. 
 Britton, N. L. and Brown, A. Illustrated Flora of the North- 
 ern States and Canada, 3 vols.. New York, 
 
 1897. See 2: 575-80. 
 Chapman, A. W. Flora of the Southern United States, ed. 2, 
 
 1883. See pp. 259-60. 
 Ci^arke:, C. B. Vaccinium, in Hooker, Flora of British India, 
 
 7 vols., 1882. See 3: 451-5. 
 Don, George. Dictionary of Gardening and Botany, 4 vols., 
 
 1831-38. See 3:855-860. 
 DuNAL, Michel Felix. Vaccinium, in De Candolle, Prodro- 
 
 mus, 7:566-576, 1839. 
 Gray, Asa. Synoptical Flora of North America, 2 : 20-26, 1887. 
 H. B. and K. (Humboldt, Bonpland and Kunth). Voyage 
 
 de Humboldt et Bonpland, 8 vols., 1815-25. 
 
 See 3 : 265 et seq. 
 HemslEy, W. Botting. Biologia centrali-americana, Botany 
 
 (1879-88), 5 vols. See 2 : 30 et seq. 
 Hooker, William Jackson. Flora boreali-americana, etc., 
 
 London, 1829-40, 2 vols. See 2 : 33 et seq. 
 Humboldt, Friedrich Heinrich Alexander von, see H. B. 
 
 and K. 
 Koch, Karl Heinrich Emil. Dendrologie. Baume . . . 
 
 welche in Europa . . . kultivirt werden, 
 
 1869, 3 vols. See 2 : 95-109. 
 Kunth, Carl Sigismund, see H. B. and K. 
 Lamarck, Jean Baptiste Antoine. Encyclopedie methodique 
 
 Botanique, Paris, 1783-1808, 8 vols. See 
 
 I : 63 et seq. 
 MiCHAUX, Andre. Flora boreali-americana, Paris, 1803 (ed. 2, 
 
 1820), 2 vols. See i : 227-235. 
 NuTTALL, Thomas. Transactions of American Philosophical 
 
 Society, ser 2, 8 : 261 et seq., 1842. 
 Pursh, Frederick. Flora Americanae-septentrionalis . . . 
 
 London, 1814, 2 vols. See 2 : 284-290. 
 
45 
 
 Current Literature. 
 
 Ame^Sj Marcus F. The Culture of Blueberries. Am. Cult. 
 
 Aug. 1898. 
 AscHERSON and Magnus. Die weissfriichtige Heidelbeere. Ver- 
 
 handl. Zool. Bot. GeselL, Vienna, 1891, 679. 
 AsCH^RSON and Magnus. "Die Weisse Heidelbeere {Vacci- 
 
 nium Myrtilhis, L. var. leucocarpa, Hause), 
 
 nicht identische mit der durch Sclerotinia hac- 
 
 carum (Sch.) Rehm, verursachten Sclerotien 
 
 Krankheit." Ber. der deutschen Bot. Gesel- 
 
 Isch., 1890, 387-400. 
 BailSy, L. H. Cape Cod Cranberries. Am. Gard. 1 1 : 583-6, 
 
 1890. Cultural notes. 
 BoNGARD_, Hi;iNRiCH GusTAv, Sitk. 525, "Observations sur la 
 
 vegetation de Tile de Sitcha." Mem. Acad. 
 
 Petersb. Ser. VI, II, (St. Petersburg, 1833). 
 Card, F. W., "Huckleberries," Bush Fruits, 491-501. 
 Dawson, Jackson, "Huckleberries and Blueberries." Count. 
 
 Gent., 1885, p. 660. Detailed notes on the 
 
 culture of seedlings of this class. 
 Dawson, Jackson, The Cultivation of Huckleberries. Gard. 
 
 and For. i: 183-185, 1888. 
 Fernald, M. L., The Distribution of the Bilberries of New Eng- 
 land. Rhodora, 2 : 187-190, 1900. Refers 
 
 particularly to V. ccFspitosum and V. uligin- 
 
 osum. 
 Farlow, W. G., White Huckleberries. Gard. and For. 2 : 50 
 
 and 6 : 363. 
 FuLLi^R, A. S., Huckleberries. Small Fruit Culturist, ed. i, 
 
 245-250. 
 Ge;rarde;, John, Herballe, ed. 2, pp. 141 5-19, figs. 6, 1633. 
 
 Interesting historical notes. 
 Harve:y, F. L., The Cranberries of Maine. Trans. Maine Pom. 
 
 Soc'y 1895, 49-54. 
 Hill, E. J., V. vacillans with White Fruit. Gard. and For. 
 
 8:503, 1895. 
 Jack, J. G., The Cultivated Blueberries. Gard. and For. 7 : 294, 
 
 1894. 
 LawTon, C. D.,' The Value of Huckleberry Swamps, Rep, Mich. 
 
 Hort. Soc'y, 1881, 231. 
 
46 
 
 Macoun, J. M., Notes on V. Vitis-Idaea. Gard. and For. 
 
 2 : 508, 1889. 
 Maury^ Paul, "Vaccinium de France — sur les variations de 
 
 Structure des." Jour, de Bot. i: 104-8, 115- 
 
 117, ill. 
 MuNSON, W. M., The Blueberry in Maine. Rep. Maine Agr'l 
 
 Exp. Sta. 1898, 164-172. 
 MuNSON, W. M., Some Little Known Fruits. Am. Gard. 
 
 20: 852, 1899. (Same, Trans. Me. Pom. Soc'y 
 
 i899> 36-38) 
 
 MuNSON, W. M., The Blueberry — Its Past, Present, and Future. 
 
 Parkinson, John, Whortleberries. Theatrum Botanicum, 
 Chap. 46, pp. 1455-9. 1640. 
 
 Peck, Chas. H., Huckleberries and Blueberries. Count. Gent. 
 1888, p. 168. Popular notes on the botany of 
 several species of Vaccinium and Gaylussacia. 
 
 Sargent, C. S., Notes on Vaccinium hirsutum. Gard. and For. 
 2 : 364, fig. I, 1899. 
 
 Sturtevant, E. Lewis, Huckleberries and Blueberries — Gaylus- 
 sacia and Vaccinium, sp. Trans. Mass. Hort. 
 Soc'y 1890, pp. 17-38. 
 
 Woronin, Ueber die Sclerotien Krankheit der Vaccinieen 
 Beeren, i( 
 
INDEX 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Albino forms i8 
 
 American species ' o- 4- 
 
 Bibliography ' 43 
 
 Blueberry barrens 1 1 
 
 Blueberry industry i- 
 
 Blueberry rake I5 
 
 Botanical notes 20 
 
 Burning over the plains 14 
 
 Classification, horticultural 2,3 
 
 natural 21 
 
 Characters of the genus 20 
 
 Common names i 
 
 Cultivation, history of 10 
 
 Distribtition of species 2 
 
 Financial importance of the blueberry , 17 
 
 Historical notes 3 
 
 Important species 25 
 
 Key to the natural groups 21 
 
 Names, common i 
 
 Natural groups of species 21 
 
 Outlook, the 42 
 
 Picking the fruit 15 
 
 Propagation 8 
 
 Rake, the blueberry 15 
 
 Seedlings, method of starting 9 
 
 Species, descriptions of 25, 42 
 
 arboreum 40 
 
 atrococcum 38 
 
 caespitosum 30 
 
 Canadense 33 
 
 corymbosum 37 
 
 crassifolium 39 
 
 erythrinum 40 
 
 erythrocarpon 28 
 
 hirsutum 34 
 
 m.acrocarpqn 26 
 
 Myrsinites .■ 29 
 
48 
 
 ; Species, descriptions of : page 
 
 myrtilloides ■ 35 
 
 Myrtillus 30 
 
 nigrum ;i2 
 
 nitidum 28 
 
 ovalifolium 35 
 
 ovatum 40 
 
 Oxycoccus 25 
 
 parvifolium 27 
 
 Pennsylvanicum 31 
 
 stamineum 41 
 
 uliginosum 39 
 
 vacillans 29 
 
 A'irgatum 36 
 
 Vitis-Idaea .• 26 
 
 Use of vaccinium for ornamental planting 7 
 
 Uses of the fruit 4 
 
 Value of the crop 17 
 
 White blueberries 18 
 
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