Brossaea coccinea Linnaeus, Sp. pl. 1190.  1753, not Gaultheria coccinea Kunth in Humboldt, Bonpland & Kunth (1819).  [Gaultheria coccinea (Linnaeus) Urban, Symb. antill. 3: 320.  1902, nom. illegit.]  Type. Based on Plumier's Nov. pl. amer. 5, t. 17.  1703.  See also Plumier's Pl. amer. (ed. Burman) 53, tab. 64(2).  1755 [1756]. Furthermore from an unpublished manuscript of Plumier's descriptions, the following "insulam Sandominicanam in sylva quadam pinis consita juxta locum...," makes it obvious that Plumier was describing (and seeing personally) the plant in question. Therefore, B. coccinea Linnaeus must be considered the oldest name for a Gaultheria from this region.

Epigaea cordifolia Swartz, Prod. 73. 1788, not Gaultheria cordifolia Raeuschel, Nomencl. bot. ed. 3, 124.  1797, nom. nud.;  not Gaultheria cordifolia Kunth in Humboldt, Bonpland & Kunth (1819). See also Swartz, Fl. Ind. occid. 2: 842.  1800.  No lectotype has yet been determined.

[Gaultheria sphagnicola Richard, Actes Soc. Hist. Nat. Paris 1: 109.  1792, nom. illegit.  Type.  No specimen cited;  however, there are two sheets at P from the Richard Herbarium, one of which is marked holotype and the other isotype;  and one sheet at G and one at B-Willd. no. 8299, sent by Richard, which may also be isotypes.]

[Brossaea anastomosans (Linnaeus) Grisebach, Fl. Brit. W. Ind. 142.  1859, nom. illegit., not Gaultheria anastomosans (Linnaeus) Kunth in Humboldt, Bonpland & Kunth (1819).]

Gaultheria swartzii Howard, J. Arn. Arb. 56: 241.  1975, as nom. nov.  Howard provided this name for the plants that grow on Guadeloupe and Martinique, because the previously used names (G. sphagnicola and G. cordifolia) were invalid.

     Prostrate to erect, rhizomatous subshrub to shrub 1-6 dm tall, often embedded in moss;  mature stem terete to subterete, striate, strigose with hairs to 2 mm long, glabrate;  bark thin, cracking in reticulate strips;  twigs terete, densely strigose or somewhat spreading-hirsute with swollen-based, eglandular trichomes to 2 mm long;  buds terete to flattened, ovate to fusiform, scales ovate, acute to obtuse, striate, glabrous.  Leaves thick-coriaceous, ovate, elliptic-ovate, to subrotund, (1-)1.7-3.5(-5.5) x (0.8-)1.3-2.5(-3) cm, base rounded, subcordate, apex rounded to acute (short-acuminate), bluntly apiculate, margin flat or + revolute, edge sometimes thickened, subentire to crenate-serrate with teeth sometimes coarse and very conspicuous, or remote and irregularly scattered, each tooth terminating in a deciduous, basally swollen hair to 1.2 mm long, lamina strigose on both surfaces (more conspicuous and persistent beneath) with basally swollen, eglandular hairs to 1.5 mm long;  midrib impressed above and conspicuously raised beneath, lateral nerves (2-3 per side) arching, impressed above and raised beneath, reticulate veinlets impressed but obscure above, conspicuously thickened and raised beneath;  petiole subterete, rugose, narrowly but conspicuously canaliculate above, (1-)1.5-4 mm long, densely and persistently strigose.  Inflorescence axillary, racemose at tips of twigs, but partially hidden by leaves, 2-8-flowered;  rachis subterete, striate, 4-25(-30) mm long, moderately to densely hirsute with straight or + crisped, reddish, eglandular hairs to 2 mm long (also with scattered, short-pilose, white hairs), at base with a series of concave, oblong to ovate, acute, striate, scarious, glabrous but ciliolate bracts to 7 mm long;  pedicels subterete, striate to ribbed, 4-10 mm long, pubescent as on rachis;  bracteoles located near middle of pedicel or slightly below, cochleariform, conspicuously striate, narrowly ovate to nearly linear-ovate, 4-7 mm long, acute to acuminate, glabrous but ciliolate; floral bract similar to bracteoles but sometimes more broadly ovate and slightly longer (rarely to 8 mm long).  Flowers with calyx 5.3-7.5 mm long, glabrous (with a few coarse hairs to 1.5 mm long at base of lobes), lobes ovate and ± abruptly long-acuminate, conspicuously striate, ca. 4.5-6(-6.5) mm long, ciliolate;  corolla urceolate, terete, 5-6(-7) mm long, very weakly to densely strigose with golden to ferruginous, eglandular hairs to ca. 0.6 mm long (also basally very weakly short-pilose with white hairs, or glabrous), pink to red when fresh, lobes deltoid, ca. 1-1.5 mm long, acute to obtuse, reflexed;  stamens 5-5.6 mm long;  filaments 3-4.6 mm long, pilose;  anthers 1-1.2 mm long, short-prognathous at base, awns minute;  dehiscence by slits running ± entire length of anther;  ovary rounded to pentagonal, glabrous to short-hirsute distally;  style 3-4.5 mm long, glabrous (weakly short-pilose at base).  Fruiting calyx 6-10 mm diam., blue-black, glabrous.  Chromosome number:  2n=22 (Hersey & Vander Kloet 325274b).

     Distribution (Map).  Endemic to the Caribbean region where it is known only from Hispaniola, Guadeloupe, and Martinique.  In Hispaniola it is found in humid or open Pinus occidentalis forest, burned over ravines, or sandy roadsides at elevations from 1300 to 3125 m.  In Guadeloupe and Martinique it is found from 1000 m to 1467 m elevation.  Here the plants are nearly always associated with Sphagnum.  It is an important colonizer of mountain summits after volcanic activity (Sastre et al., 1983 and references therein).  Flowering and fruiting occur throughout the year.    In Martinique and Guadeloupe the species is considered "vulnerable" (following the IUCN standards) because of its exposed habit at the summits of active volcanoes and also because tourists collect the plants as ornamentals or for the edible fruits (Sastre, 1978).

     Common names and uses.  Guadeloupe and Martinique:  myrtille des hauts. Santo Domingo:  niquivá. Fruits are said to be edible but are reported to vary from sweet to insipid.