Vaccinium myrtillus |
Vaccinium cespitosum |
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whortleberry |
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Habit | Shrubs deciduous, up to 4 dm; branching habit open, rarely weakly “broom-like”; twigs strongly angled, green to greenish brown, sparsely puberulent along grooves, sometimes glabrous; rhizomatous. | |
Leaves | elliptic to ovate, 11–20(30) × 5–10 mm, light green abaxially, green adaxially; thin; flexible; margins sharply serrate from tips to near base, prominently veined; tips acute; surfaces abaxially glandular, adaxially glabrous. |
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Inflorescences | solitary flowers in axils. |
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Flowers | sepals 5; calyces shallowly lobed, glabrous; petals 5; corollas ovoid-urceolate to globose, 3–7 × 4–7 mm, white to pink, glaucous; filaments glabrous. |
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Fruits | 4–9 mm in diameter, dark red to bluish black; without a bloom. |
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2n | =24, 48. |
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Vaccinium myrtillus |
Vaccinium cespitosum |
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Distribution | ||
Discussion | Wet mid- to high elevation areas. Flowering Apr–Jul. 1100–2100 m. BW, Casc, Sisk. ID, NV, WA; northeast to Alberta and southeast to NM, Greenland; Asia, Europe. Native. Morphologically, Vaccinium myrtillus is similar to V. scoparium, and at higher elevations their ranges overlap. Vaccinium myrtillus differs from V. scoparium by its generally larger leaves and flowers, often sparsely puberulent twigs, and its broom-like habit. |
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Source | Flora of Oregon, volume 2, page 640 Stephen Meyers |
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Sibling taxa | ||
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