OregonFlora: Vaccinium myrtillus vs. Vaccinium

	Vaccinium myrtillus	Vaccinium
	whortleberry	bilberry, blueberry, cranberry, huckleberry
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.	Shrubs, subshrubs, or vines evergreen or deciduous.
Stems		erect, ascending, spreading or creeping, glabrous, puberulent or hairy.
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.	alternate; simple; margins entire or serrate; plane or revolute; surfaces glabrous to glaucous or puberulent; petioles absent or present.
Inflorescences	solitary flowers in axils.	axillary; racemes or solitary, 1–10-flowered; bracteoles present or absent.
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.	sepals 4–5, 67% to fully fused; corollas globose to urceolate; petals 4–5, 67% to fully fused, white to red; stamens 8–10, included; filaments flat; straight, glabrous or hairy; anthers awned or awnless, dehiscent by pores; ovaries inferior; styles usually surpassing stamens.
Fruits	4–9 mm in diameter, dark red to bluish black; without a bloom.	berries; ovoid to globose, red to black; fleshy.
Seeds		2–40.
2n	=24, 48.

	Vaccinium myrtillus	Vaccinium
Distribution	[WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	[BONAP county map]
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.	Temperate areas and tropical mountains in Asia, Europe, North America, and South America. ~450 species; 11 species treated in Flora. Many Vaccinium keys rely, often heavily, on fruit characters. This unfortunately relegates the observer to identifying plants during one, often short, life stage. Furthermore, most herbarium specimens are lacking fruits. As such, presented here is a key based almost entirely on vegetative characters. Vaccinium corymbosum (high-bush blueberry), a popular cultivar, has been reported to have escaped and established a small population in Eugene (Lane County). If persisting or found elsewhere, the species is distinguished from our other Vaccinium by a combination of its tall growth habit (1–5 m), large leaves (15–70 × 10–25 mm) and fruits with a bloom.
Source	Flora of Oregon, volume 2, page 640 Stephen Meyers	Flora of Oregon, volume 1
Sibling taxa	V. caespitosum, V. corymbosum, V. deliciosum, V. macrocarpon, V. membranaceum, V. ovalifolium, V. ovatum, V. oxycoccos, V. parvifolium, V. scoparium, V. uliginosum
Subordinate taxa		V. caespitosum, V. corymbosum, V. deliciosum, V. macrocarpon, V. membranaceum, V. myrtillus, V. ovalifolium, V. ovatum, V. oxycoccos, V. parvifolium, V. scoparium, V. uliginosum
Web links	Local floras: BC, OR, WA Local Web sites: Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search	Local floras: CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria, Turner Photog. WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Vaccinium

whortleberry

bilberry, blueberry, cranberry, huckleberry

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.

Shrubs, subshrubs, or vines evergreen or deciduous.

Stems

erect, ascending, spreading or creeping, glabrous, puberulent or hairy.

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.

alternate; simple;

margins entire or serrate; plane or revolute;

surfaces glabrous to glaucous or puberulent;

petioles absent or present.

Inflorescences

solitary flowers in axils.

axillary; racemes or solitary, 1–10-flowered;

bracteoles present or absent.

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.

sepals 4–5, 67% to fully fused;

corollas globose to urceolate;

petals 4–5, 67% to fully fused, white to red;

stamens 8–10, included;

filaments flat; straight, glabrous or hairy;

anthers awned or awnless, dehiscent by pores;

ovaries inferior;

styles usually surpassing stamens.

Fruits

4–9 mm in diameter, dark red to bluish black; without a bloom.

berries; ovoid to globose, red to black; fleshy.

Seeds

2–40.

=24, 48.

Vaccinium

Distribution

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

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.

Temperate areas and tropical mountains in Asia, Europe, North America, and South America. ~450 species; 11 species treated in Flora.

Many Vaccinium keys rely, often heavily, on fruit characters. This unfortunately relegates the observer to identifying plants during one, often short, life stage. Furthermore, most herbarium specimens are lacking fruits. As such, presented here is a key based almost entirely on vegetative characters. Vaccinium corymbosum (high-bush blueberry), a popular cultivar, has been reported to have escaped and established a small population in Eugene (Lane County). If persisting or found elsewhere, the species is distinguished from our other Vaccinium by a combination of its tall growth habit (1–5 m), large leaves (15–70 × 10–25 mm) and fruits with a bloom.

Source

Flora of Oregon, volume 2, page 640
Stephen Meyers

Flora of Oregon, volume 1

Sibling taxa