Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XVI.djvu/698

 CT-i WINTERGREEN WINTERHALTER the color of the fruit is remarkably intense, and where the shrub grows, as it sometimes does, in large patches, it makes a blaze of scar- let unequalled in our winter landscape. It is Wlnterberty (Ilex verticilUU). cultivated in Europe, but rarely in this coun- try. The bark and berries are bitter, and are used as a domestic tonic. The smooth win- torberry (/. Icnigata), common nar the coast from Maine to Virginia, has smoother and nar- rower leaves, the sterile flowers on a long pe- duncle, and larger, less brilliant berries, which ripen earlier than the preceding. There are a few other related species, some with purple fruit ; but these are much less common. VITKKGEKEL, one of the popular names for Gaultheria procumbent, a low, aromatic, evergreen shrub of the heath family, found in damp woods, especially under the shade of evergreens, in Canada and the northern states, and along the mountains to North Carolina. The long slender stems creep extensively upon or just below the surface, from which rise the flowering branches, 8 to 5 in. high, bearing a few leaves, each with one or two nodding flowers in its axil ; the leaves are oval or obovate, obscurely toothed, of a leathery tex- ture, dark green, shining above and lighter below ; the cylindrical or somewhat urn-shaped corolla has five teeth at the orifice, and is pearly white ; stamens ten, the anthers with two appendages at the summit ; the ovary five- celled, ripening into a depressed, five-lobed, five-celled, many-seeded, dry capsule. As the fruit ripens the calyx increases greatly, be- comes thick and fleshy, finally surrounding and nearly enclosing the proper fruit, and appear- ing like a bright scarlet berry. The flowers appear in May and July; the berries, which ripen in autumn, remain until spring; they have a slight aromatic taste ; they are often seen in the city markets, where they are called checkerberries ; they form an important part of the food of partridges and other birds which hibernate in the northern states. The leaves and stems are strongly aromatic, with a flavor and odor like that of the black birch (betula lento), due to a volatile oil, which is separated by distillation and is known in commerce as oil of wintergreen ; it is the heaviest of the essential oils, having the specific gravity 1-173, and boils at 412 F. ; it is a salicylato of the oxide of methyle, and has been prepared arti- ficially. The oil is used for flavoring confec- tionery and to cover the taste of medicines ; the plant itself is astringent as well as aromat- ic, and an infusion is sometimes used in diar- rhoea, and also as a substitute for tea. The plant has a number of common names, and as some of these are also applied to other plants, there is much confusion ; besides wintergreen, it is in different parts of the country called boxberry, teaberry, mountain tea, partridge berry, checkerberry, deerberry, and ivory plum, the last name having reference to the fruit. (See PARTRIDOK BEBRY.) Another species, Qaultheria shallon, is abundant in Oregon and other parts of the northwest, especially in dense evergreen woods; it is from 18 in. to 8 ft. high, with glossy, ovate, somewhat heart- shaped leaves, with reddish-tinged flowers in racemes, and abundant purple fruit; it is the salal berry of the Indians, who as well as the Wintergreen (Gaultherla proomnbens), with Section of Fruit. whites use the fruit for food. It succeeds in England, where it is planted to furnish shelter and food for game, but it is difficult to culti- vate it in the eastern states. WINTERD ALTER, Franz aver, a German paint- er, born at Mengenschwand, Baden, April 20, 1806, died in July, 1878. He studied engraving at Freiburg and painting at Munich. In 1828 he became known at Carlsruhe by his portraits of the grand duke and grand duchess of Ba- den. After perfecting his art in Italy, he set- tled in 1834 in Paris, where he spent most of