Page:GrouseinHealthVol1.djvu/156

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84
THE GROUSE IN HEALTH AND IN DISEASE


Vaccinium oxycoccus, Bog Cranberry. The leaf and the berry are sometimes eaten. See P;. xxiv., p. 86, Fig. 2.
Vaccinium vitis-idæa, Red Whortleberry, Clusterberry, and (in Scotland) Cranberry. Leaf and berry are eaten. See Pl. xxiv., p. 86, Fig. 3.
Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, Red Bear Berry. See Pl. xxiv., p. 86, Fig. 4.
Rubus chamæmorus, Cloudberry, or (in Cumberland) Noops. The leaf is eaten, and so are the berries. See Pl. xxv., p. 87, Fig. 1.
Empetrum nigrum, Crowberry, Crakeberry or Lingberry. The top shoots, tight leaf buds, and berries are eaten. See Pl. xxv., p. 87, Fig. 2.
Erica cinerea, Purple Bell Heather. The flower alone is eaten, but while it is out it is eaten in fair quantities. See Pl. xxv., p. 87, Fig. 3.
Erica tetralix, Cross-leaved Heath. Flower-heads are eaten in quantities, but leaf-shoots are avoided. See Pl. xxv., p. 87, Fig. 4.
Salix repens, Dwarf or Creeping Willow, a low, straggling shrub from 2 inches to 1 foot in height. Foliage and young shoots more or less silky white. The plant has small oblong leaves, and bears small catkins in spring, followed by silky seed vessels. Found on sandy ground. Where it occurs the leaves and young shoots are greedily eaten.
Myrica gale, Bog Myrtle, or Sweet Gale, an erect shrub, 2 or 3 feet high, fragrant when rubbed. It has long, narrowish pointed leaves, slightly toothed near the tip, and often downy beneath. It bears small catkins before the leaves are out. Always found in boggy places. The buds are eaten in winter and early spring, but sparely.
Eriophorum, Cottonsedge or "Cotton Grass," two or three species of similar habit. A rush-like plant, bearing in summer, after the flowering period, conspicuous, white, cottony tufts, either solitary or in clusters of two or three or more. Grouse are very greedy for the flower of this plant in spring, and the tender shoots are also said to be useful when they first appear. The plant is then known by gamekeepers as "Blackhead" or "Mosscrop." It is found in marshy ground.
Rumex acetosella, Common Red or "Sheep" Sorrel. A slender plant, from 3 or 4 inches to 1 foot high, often turning red. It has long, more or less arrow-shaped leaves, very acid to the taste. The