Arbutus, ar'bu-tus, Trailing, a fragrant ground plant of the heath family. The trailing arbutus is to be sought in early spring in sandy or rocky woods under the evergreens. The runners are slightly woody. The whole plant is hairy. The corolla is salver-shaped with a five-parted spreading border. The flowers are apt to be hid in old leaves but their fragrance cannot be overlooked. This hardy little plant is found in favoring localities east of a line drawn from Florida by way of Kentucky, Michigan, and northeastern Minnesota to northwestern Canada. One authority credits Texas with being the home of the plant. A near relative is to be found in Japan. The botanical name, Epigaea, means "on the earth" and is quite appropriate. I wandered lonely where the pine trees made Against the bitter East their barricade, And, guided by the sweet Perfume, I found, within a narrow dell, The trailing spring flower tinted like a shell Amid dry leaves and mosses at my feet.--Whittier, The Trailing Arbutus.