OregonFlora: Vaccinium ovalifolium vs. Vaccinium

	Vaccinium ovalifolium	Vaccinium
	early blueberry, oval-leaf blueberry	bilberry, blueberry, cranberry, huckleberry
Habit	Shrubs deciduous, 3–35 dm, clumped; stems round in cross section; twigs slightly angled or with sharp ridges, yellow-green to brown, glabrous to minutely puberulent; not rhizomatous.	Shrubs, subshrubs, or vines evergreen or deciduous.
Stems		erect, ascending, spreading or creeping, glabrous, puberulent or hairy.
Leaves	ovate to elliptic, 25–40 × 15–20 mm, light green to bluish green; thin; flexible; margins entire to minutely serrate on lower 50%; tips usually rounded or sometimes acute; surfaces usually glaucous, adaxially occasionally 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, glabrous or sometimes glaucous; calyx lobes minute or absent; petals 5; corollas subglobose to urceolate, 4–7 × 3–5 mm, pink, glaucous; filaments < anthers, 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	6–10 mm in diameter, blue to black, with a bloom.	berries; ovoid to globose, red to black; fleshy.
Seeds		2–40.
2n	=24.

	Vaccinium ovalifolium	Vaccinium
Distribution	[WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	[BONAP county map]
Discussion	Moist mid-elevations, occasionally coastal. Flowering Mar–Jul. 0–2100 m. BW, Casc, CR, ECas, Est. North to AK and east to Prince Edward Island; Asia. Native.	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. myrtillus, 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
Synonyms	Vaccinium alaskaense
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

early blueberry, oval-leaf blueberry

bilberry, blueberry, cranberry, huckleberry

Habit

Shrubs deciduous, 3–35 dm, clumped; stems round in cross section; twigs slightly angled or with sharp ridges, yellow-green to brown, glabrous to minutely puberulent; not rhizomatous.

Shrubs, subshrubs, or vines evergreen or deciduous.

Stems

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

Leaves

ovate to elliptic, 25–40 × 15–20 mm, light green to bluish green; thin; flexible;

margins entire to minutely serrate on lower 50%;

tips usually rounded or sometimes acute;

surfaces usually glaucous, adaxially occasionally 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, glabrous or sometimes glaucous;

calyx lobes minute or absent;

petals 5;

corollas subglobose to urceolate, 4–7 × 3–5 mm, pink, glaucous;

filaments < anthers, 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

6–10 mm in diameter, blue to black, with a bloom.

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

Seeds

2–40.

=24.

Vaccinium

Distribution

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

Discussion

Moist mid-elevations, occasionally coastal. Flowering Mar–Jul. 0–2100 m. BW, Casc, CR, ECas, Est. North to AK and east to Prince Edward Island; Asia. Native.

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