UW Burke Herbarium species comparison

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Vaccinium myrtillus

Vaccinium cespitosum

dwarf blueberry, low blueberry

dwarf bilberry, dwarf huckleberry
Habit Deciduous, many-branched shrub 2-3 dm. tall, the branches strongly angled, greenish, usually puberulent. 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 ovate to elliptic-lanceolate, 1-3 cm. long, light green, strongly serrulate, strongly veiny on the lower surface.

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 on pedicels 2-3 mm. long;

calyx shallowly 5-lobed;

corolla entire, pinkish, broadly urn-shaped;

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

ovary inferior.

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, dark red to bluish, 5-8 mm. long.

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

Vaccinium myrtillus

Vaccinium cespitosum
Flowering time May-August May-July
Habitat Forest openings at middle elevations in the mountains Moist rocky ridges and meadows, mid- to high elevations in the mountains.
Distribution
Occurring chiefly east of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to Oregon, east to the Rocky Mountains.
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
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 Native
Conservation status Not of concern Not of concern
Sibling taxa
V. cespitosum, V. corymbosum, V. deliciosum, V. macrocarpon, V. membranaceum, V. myrtilloides, V. ovalifolium, V. ovatum, V. oxycoccos, V. parvifolium, V. scoparium, V. uliginosum
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 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the University of Washington's Burke Herbarium.



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