OregonFlora: Vaccinium myrtillus vs. Vaccinium parvifolium

	Vaccinium myrtillus	Vaccinium parvifolium
	whortleberry	red 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 deciduous to semi-evergreen, 10–50 dm, erect; stems sharply angled; twigs sharply angled, green to brown, glabrous to minutely puberulent; not 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.	ovate to oblong-elliptic, 10–30 × 4–18 mm; thin; margins usually entire, rarely minutely serrate; tips usually rounded or sometimes acute; surfaces abaxially glabrous to somewhat puberulent, adaxially glabrous but sometimes minutely puberulent along midrib.
Inflorescences	solitary flowers in axils.	solitary flowers in axils.
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 5; calyx lobes green, glabrous; petals 5; corollas globose to urceolate, 4–6 × 3–5 mm; greenish yellow to pink, glaucous; filaments ? anthers, glabrous.
Fruits	4–9 mm in diameter, dark red to bluish black; without a bloom.	6–10 mm in diameter, red, with a faint bloom.
2n	=24, 48.	=24.

	Vaccinium myrtillus	Vaccinium parvifolium
Distribution	[WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	[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.	Coniferous forests, often on decaying wood. Flowering Mar–Jul. 0–1600 m. Casc, CR, Est, Sisk, WV. CA, WA; north to AK. Native. Some old, semi-evergreen leaves of V. parvifolium may be minutely serrate and shiny, while most leaves are entire and dull. Thus, when using the above key, care must be taken to examine younger leaves for proper identification.
Source	Flora of Oregon, volume 2, page 640 Stephen Meyers	Flora of Oregon, volume 2, page 641 Stephen Meyers
Sibling taxa	V. caespitosum, V. corymbosum, V. deliciosum, V. macrocarpon, V. membranaceum, V. ovalifolium, V. ovatum, V. oxycoccos, V. parvifolium, V. scoparium, V. uliginosum	V. caespitosum, V. corymbosum, V. deliciosum, V. macrocarpon, V. membranaceum, V. myrtillus, V. ovalifolium, V. ovatum, V. oxycoccos, 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: BC, 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 parvifolium

whortleberry

red 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 deciduous to semi-evergreen, 10–50 dm, erect; stems sharply angled; twigs sharply angled, green to brown, glabrous to minutely puberulent; not 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.

ovate to oblong-elliptic, 10–30 × 4–18 mm; thin;

margins usually entire, rarely minutely serrate;

tips usually rounded or sometimes acute;

surfaces abaxially glabrous to somewhat puberulent, adaxially glabrous but sometimes minutely puberulent along midrib.

Inflorescences

solitary flowers in axils.

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 5;

calyx lobes green, glabrous;

petals 5;

corollas globose to urceolate, 4–6 × 3–5 mm; greenish yellow to pink, glaucous;

filaments ? anthers, glabrous.

Fruits

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

6–10 mm in diameter, red, with a faint bloom.

=24, 48.

=24.

Vaccinium parvifolium

Distribution

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

[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.

Coniferous forests, often on decaying wood. Flowering Mar–Jul. 0–1600 m. Casc, CR, Est, Sisk, WV. CA, WA; north to AK. Native.

Some old, semi-evergreen leaves of V. parvifolium may be minutely serrate and shiny, while most leaves are entire and dull. Thus, when using the above key, care must be taken to examine younger leaves for proper identification.

Source

Flora of Oregon, volume 2, page 640
Stephen Meyers

Flora of Oregon, volume 2, page 641
Stephen Meyers

Sibling taxa