Burke: Vaccinium cespitosum vs. Vaccinium uliginosum

	Vaccinium cespitosum	Vaccinium uliginosum
	dwarf bilberry, dwarf huckleberry	bog bilberry, bog blueberry
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.	Deciduous, branching shrub, the stems 2-6 dm. tall, not angled, the young bark yellowish-green, becoming reddish-gray with age.
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, entire, oblanceolate 1-3 cm. long, glabrous or finely puberulent.
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 1-4 in the leaf axils, pink, 5-6 mm. long, the sepals deltoid, persistent, the corolla broadly urn-shaped; anthers with awns and terminal pore-bearing tubes; ovary inferior.
Fruits	Fruit a berry, glaucous-blue, globose, 5-8 mm. broad.	Fruit a blue berry, glaucous, 5-7 mm. broad.

	Vaccinium cespitosum	Vaccinium uliginosum
Flowering time	May-July	June-August
Habitat	Moist rocky ridges and meadows, mid- to high elevations in the mountains.	Bogs and fens from low elevation to subalpine.
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 on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to California, east to Nevada, Utah, Wyoming and Montana, east across northern North America to the Atlantic. [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. oxycoccos, V. parvifolium, V. scoparium
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 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 uliginosum

dwarf bilberry, dwarf huckleberry

bog bilberry, bog blueberry

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.

Deciduous, branching shrub, the stems 2-6 dm. tall, not angled, the young bark yellowish-green, becoming reddish-gray with age.

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, entire, oblanceolate 1-3 cm. long, glabrous or finely puberulent.

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 1-4 in the leaf axils, pink, 5-6 mm. long, the sepals deltoid, persistent, the corolla broadly urn-shaped;

anthers with awns and terminal pore-bearing tubes;

ovary inferior.

Fruits

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

Fruit a blue berry, glaucous, 5-7 mm. broad.

Vaccinium cespitosum

Vaccinium uliginosum

Flowering time

May-July

June-August

Habitat

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

Bogs and fens from low elevation to subalpine.

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 on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to California, east to Nevada, Utah, Wyoming and Montana, east across northern North America to the Atlantic.

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

Origin

Native

Conservation status

Not of concern

Sibling taxa