Pernettya
(named after A. J. Pernetty, 1716-1801, who accompanied Bougainville in his voyage, and was author of "A Voyage to the Falkland Islands"). ORD. Ericaceae. A genus comprising about fifteen species (the number is inordinately multiplied by some authors) of hardy, or nearly hardy, rigid, very glabrous, hispid, or ciliated shrubs, some small; one is a native of the mountains of Tasmania and New Zealand, another is Brazilian, and the rest inhabit the mountains of Western America, from Tierra del Fuego to Mexico. Flowers white or rose-colour, small, nodding, solitary in the axils, or disposed in axillary or terminal racemes; calyx five-parted, not changing in the fruit, persistent; corolla urceolate or globose, shortly five-lobed, the lobes recurved; pedicels curved, bracteate and bibracteolate. Fruit a globular berry, varying considerably in colour and size, generally about the size of a pea. Leaves usually small, alternate, short-stalked, serrated, penninerved, coriaceous, hard, persistent. The species best known in cultivation are those described below. For culture, see Gaultheria.
P. ciliaris (ciliated). fl. white; peduncles glandular. June. l. ovate-lanceolate, acute, having the margins denticulated and ciliated with bristles. Branchlets setose. h. 2ft. Mexico, 1849. Half-hardy. (G. C. n. s., x. 39.)
P. furens (maddening).* fl. white, in almost sessile, solitary, many-flowered, axillary racemes; lobes of corolla spreading, rather obtuse. March. l. alternate, 1 1/2in. long, ovate-lanceolate, rarely sub-obovate, with serrated margins; petioles red. Chili. A low, moderately-branched shrub. (B. M. 4920.)
P. mucronata (mucronate).* Prickly Heath. fl. white; pedicels axillary, bracteate, about equal in length to the leaves. May to July. l. ovate, cuspidate, denticulate, serrulate, stiff, shining on both surfaces. h. 6ft. Magellan, 1828. (B. R. 1675.) SYN. Arbutus mucronata (B. M. 3093; L. B. C. 1848). A considerable number of handsome seedling varieties have been produced from this species, varying in the size and colour of the berries, these ranging from almost black to nearly white. Perhaps the finest forms have been raised by Mr. L. J. Davis, Hillsborough, co. Down.
P. m. angustifolia (narrow-leaved). A form with narrower leaves than the type. (B. M. 3889; B. R. 1840, 63, under name of P. angustifolia.)
P. Pentlandi (Pentland's). fl. white, 1/3in. long, ovate-globose, solitary, axillary, drooping; pedicels red. June. fr. a berry, about the size of a large pea, dark blue-purple. l. crowded or sparse, 2/3in. long and under, ovate or ovate-lanceolate, acute, serrulate, very coriaceous, shining. Branches and branchlets angled, setulose or glabrous, leafy. Andes, 1875. A rigid, branched, small shrub. (B. M. 6204.)
P. pilosa (pilose).* fl. white; corolla ovate, with blunt, revolute teeth. May. l. ovate-elliptic, ciliately serrulated, coriaceous, without mucro, and callous at the point. Stem pilose, procumbent. h. 6in. Mexico, 1839. SYN. Arbutus pilosa. (B. M. 3177.)