Burke: Vaccinium cespitosum

	Vaccinium cespitosum
	dwarf bilberry, dwarf huckleberry
Habit	Deciduous shrubs spreading widely by rhizomes and forming mats 1.5-3 dm. tall, the twigs somewhat angled, with yellowish-green to reddish bark, usually finely puberulent.
Leaves	Leaves alternate, oblanceolate, 1-3 cm. long and + to as broad, with a wedge-shaped base, light green and glabrous above, paler and glandular below, serrulate from mid-length to the tips.
Flowers	Flowers single in the axils, whitish to pink, 6-7 mm. long; calyx obscurely 5-lobed; corolla united, narrowly urn-shaped, twice as long as wide, the 5 lobes very short; anthers with dorsal awns and apical, pore-bearing tubes; ovary inferior.
Fruits	Fruit a berry, glaucous-blue, globose, 5-8 mm. broad.

	Vaccinium cespitosum
Flowering time	May-July
Habitat	Moist rocky ridges and meadows, mid- to high elevations in the mountains.
Distribution	Widely distributed in the mountainous areas of Washington; Alaska to California, east to the Rocky Mountains, northern Great Plains, Great Lakes region, and northeastern North America. [WildflowerSearch map]
Origin	Native
Conservation status	Not of concern
Sibling taxa	V. corymbosum, V. deliciosum, V. macrocarpon, V. membranaceum, V. myrtilloides, V. myrtillus, V. ovalifolium, V. ovatum, V. oxycoccos, V. parvifolium, V. scoparium, V. uliginosum
Web links	Local floras: CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, 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

Vaccinium cespitosum

dwarf bilberry, dwarf huckleberry

Habit

Deciduous shrubs spreading widely by rhizomes and forming mats 1.5-3 dm. tall, the twigs somewhat angled, with yellowish-green to reddish bark, usually finely puberulent.

Leaves

Leaves alternate, oblanceolate, 1-3 cm. long and + to as broad, with a wedge-shaped base, light green and glabrous above, paler and glandular below, serrulate from mid-length to the tips.

Flowers

Flowers single in the axils, whitish to pink, 6-7 mm. long;

calyx obscurely 5-lobed;

corolla united, narrowly urn-shaped, twice as long as wide, the 5 lobes very short;

anthers with dorsal awns and apical, pore-bearing tubes;

ovary inferior.

Fruits

Fruit a berry, glaucous-blue, globose, 5-8 mm. broad.

Vaccinium cespitosum

Flowering time

May-July

Habitat

Moist rocky ridges and meadows, mid- to high elevations in the mountains.

Distribution

Widely distributed in the mountainous areas of Washington; Alaska to California, east to the Rocky Mountains, northern Great Plains, Great Lakes region, and northeastern North America.

[WildflowerSearch map]

Origin

Native

Conservation status

Not of concern

Sibling taxa