Gaultheria tetramera W. W. Sm.

An evergreen shrub 2 ft and upwards high, usually more in width; young shoots bristly. Leaves leathery, obovate to oblanceolate and roundish, 1 to 2 in. long, about half as wide, rounded to pointed at the apex, rounded to cuneate at the base, shallowly toothed, glabrous above, sparsely bristly below; stalk short. Flowers fragrant, crowded in axillary racemes about i in. long; corolla greenish white, ovoid, nearly closed at the mouth where are four or five tiny revolute lobes. Fruits brilliant violet-blue or china blue, globose, 1⁄4 in. wide. Bot. Mag., t. 9618.

Native of S.W. China, discovered and collected several times by Forrest in 1912, in one instance at 13,000 ft altitude. It should, therefore, be fairly hardy but will, no doubt, succeed best in the south and west. I have for instance seen it very attractively in fruit at Exbury on the Solent.

G. tetramera was given an Award of Merit when shown by Messrs Hillier at Vincent Square in September 1950. For a note on this species by the late Francis Hanger see Journ. R.H.S., Vol. 68, p. 109.

From the Supplement (Vol. V)

G. semi-infera – The introduction of this species from eastern Nepal in 1971, briefly mentioned in later printings, was by the University of North Wales Expedition under B.L. & M. 249 and 320. It is also in cultivation from Schilling 2503.