There are a great many kinds of Vaccinium, widely distributed;
branching shrubs, with alternate leaves and small flowers, usually in
clusters; the ovary inferior, the fruit a many-seeded berry, crowned
with the remains of the calyx-teeth. This is the classic Latin name.
These plants include Blueberry, Huckleberry, and Bilberry.
[Sidenote: =California Huckleberry=
_Vaccínium ovàtum_
=White, pink
Spring, summer
Cal., Oreg.=]
An attractive shrub, from four to eight feet high, with beautiful,
glossy, evergreen foliage, which is very ornamental and much used in
household decoration. The older leaves are rich dark green, contrasting
finely with the younger, apple-green leaves and, in the spring, with
the charming little red ones, with which the twigs are tipped. They are
leathery in texture and very neatly arranged along the branches, which
are ornamented with pretty clusters of waxy, white or pink flowers, a
quarter of an inch long, or with purple berries, without a "bloom,"
which are edible and make excellent preserves. This grows on hills near
the coast, especially among the redwoods.
There is one kind of Azaleastrum; resembling Rhododendron, but with
deciduous leaves; and resembling Azalea, but the flowers developing
from lateral instead of terminal buds, the corolla with five, regular
lobes, and the stamens shorter.
[Sidenote: =Small Azalea=
_Azaleástrum albiflòrum (Rhododendron)_
=White
Summer
Northwest=]
An attractive shrub, from two to six feet high and loosely branching,
with grayish-brown bark and rich-green leaves, glossy, but not
stiff or leathery. The flowers are about an inch across, with a
sticky, aromatic, pale green calyx and waxy-white corolla, the style
and stamens pale yellow or white. They have no scent and are not
so handsome as the last, but are very beautiful, growing in high
mountains, often close to the snow line.
[Illustration: Small Azalea--Azaleastrum albiflorum.