Burke: Vaccinium cespitosum vs. Vaccinium oxycoccos

	Vaccinium cespitosum	Vaccinium oxycoccos
	dwarf bilberry, dwarf huckleberry	small 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.	Evergreen creeping shrub with glabrous to finely pubescent stems.
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, ovate to lanceolate, acute, 5-15 mm. long, deep green, shining on the upper surface, grayish beneath, strongly revolute.
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.	Flowers 1-several, terminal or lateral on the stem; pedicels very slender, 2-4 cm. long, usually glabrous, with 2 tiny bractlets usually below mid-length; petals 4, distinct, deep pinkish, 5-8 mm. long, recurved; anthers with pore-bearing terminal tubes but without awns; ovary inferior.
Fruits	Fruit a berry, glaucous-blue, globose, 5-8 mm. broad.	Fruit a berry, deep red, 5-10 mm. broad.

	Vaccinium cespitosum	Vaccinium oxycoccos
Flowering time	May-July	May-July
Habitat	Moist rocky ridges and meadows, mid- to high elevations in the mountains.	Usually in sphagnum bogs.
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 chiefly west of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to California, east to Idaho, across Canada; from the upper Midwest to the Atlantic coast. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Native	Native
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. macrocarpon, V. membranaceum, V. myrtilloides, V. myrtillus, V. ovalifolium, V. ovatum, 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, OR, WA Local Web sites: 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 cespitosum

Vaccinium oxycoccos

dwarf bilberry, dwarf huckleberry

small 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.

Evergreen creeping shrub with glabrous to finely pubescent stems.

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, ovate to lanceolate, acute, 5-15 mm. long, deep green, shining on the upper surface, grayish beneath, strongly revolute.

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.

Flowers 1-several, terminal or lateral on the stem;

pedicels very slender, 2-4 cm. long, usually glabrous, with 2 tiny bractlets usually below mid-length;

petals 4, distinct, deep pinkish, 5-8 mm. long, recurved;

anthers with pore-bearing terminal tubes but without awns;

ovary inferior.

Fruits

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

Fruit a berry, deep red, 5-10 mm. broad.

Vaccinium cespitosum

Vaccinium oxycoccos

Flowering time

May-July

Habitat

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

Usually in sphagnum bogs.

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 chiefly west of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to California, east to Idaho, across Canada; from the upper Midwest to the Atlantic coast.

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

Origin

Native

Conservation status

Not of concern

Sibling taxa