Burke: Vaccinium cespitosum vs. Vaccinium macrocarpon

	Vaccinium cespitosum	Vaccinium macrocarpon
	dwarf bilberry, dwarf huckleberry	cultivated cranberry, large cranberry
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.	Creeping evergreen shrub, often ascending, reaching 0.5-1.5 dm.
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.	Leaves alternate, glaucous upper surface, green beneath, elliptic or narrowly elliptic, 5-15 mm long, margins entire and rolled slightly downward.
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.	Inflorescences emerging from axils of bracts at base of shoots from current year’s growth; pedicles bracteolate, 2-3 cm, slender, nodding; bracteoles 2, 1-2 mm wide, resembling scales, greenish white; calyx lobes small; corolla white to pink, very deeply 4-lobed, segments 6-10 mm, strongly reflexed; filaments hairy, 1/3 length of anthers, anthers 1-2 mm.
Fruits	Fruit a berry, glaucous-blue, globose, 5-8 mm. broad.	Berries globose, smooth, reddish to pink, 10-15 mm.

	Vaccinium cespitosum	Vaccinium macrocarpon
Flowering time	May-July	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]	Occurring west of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, also in Idaho; native to eastern North America. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Native	Introduced from northeastern United States
Conservation status	Not of concern	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	V. cespitosum, V. corymbosum, V. deliciosum, 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	Local floras: BC, 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

Vaccinium macrocarpon

dwarf bilberry, dwarf huckleberry

cultivated cranberry, large cranberry

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.

Creeping evergreen shrub, often ascending, reaching 0.5-1.5 dm.

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.

Leaves alternate, glaucous upper surface, green beneath, elliptic or narrowly elliptic, 5-15 mm long, margins entire and rolled slightly downward.

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.

Inflorescences emerging from axils of bracts at base of shoots from current year’s growth; pedicles bracteolate, 2-3 cm, slender, nodding;

bracteoles 2, 1-2 mm wide, resembling scales, greenish white;

calyx lobes small;

corolla white to pink, very deeply 4-lobed, segments 6-10 mm, strongly reflexed;

filaments hairy, 1/3 length of anthers, anthers 1-2 mm.

Fruits

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

Berries globose, smooth, reddish to pink, 10-15 mm.

Vaccinium cespitosum

Vaccinium macrocarpon

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]