Burke: Vaccinium myrtillus vs. Vaccinium ovalifolium

	Vaccinium myrtillus	Vaccinium ovalifolium
	dwarf blueberry, low blueberry	Alaska blueberry, oval-leaf blueberry
Habit	Deciduous, many-branched shrub 2-3 dm. tall, the branches strongly angled, greenish, usually puberulent.	Spreading deciduous shrub 4-10 dm. tall, flowering before the leaves have reached half their mature size; twigs yellowish-green strongly angled, glabrous, the old branches grayish.
Leaves	Leaves ovate to elliptic-lanceolate, 1-3 cm. long, light green, strongly serrulate, strongly veiny on the lower surface.	Leaves alternate, ovate-elliptic, 2-4 cm. long, glabrous, glaucous on the lower surface, entire.
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, about 7 mm. long; pedicels 1-5 mm. long, strongly recurved in fruit, not enlarged immediately under the berry; corolla entire, pinkish, narrowly urn-shaped, longer than broad, broadest just below mid-length; anthers with dorsal awns and terminal pore-bearing tubes; ovary inferior.
Fruits	Fruit a berry, dark red to bluish, 5-8 mm. long.	Fruit a berry, purplish-black to bluish-black, 6-9 mm. long.

	Vaccinium myrtillus	Vaccinium ovalifolium
Flowering time	May-August	May-July
Habitat	Forest openings at middle elevations in the mountains	Coniferous forests and open slopes from low elevations to the subalpine.
Distribution	Occurring chiefly east of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to Oregon, east to the Rocky Mountains. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	Occurring in forested and mountainous areas on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to Oregon, east to Alberta and Idaho, in the Great Lakes region, and eastern Canada; eastern Asia. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county 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. cespitosum, V. corymbosum, V. deliciosum, V. macrocarpon, V. membranaceum, V. myrtilloides, V. myrtillus, V. ovatum, V. oxycoccos, V. parvifolium, V. scoparium, V. uliginosum
Web links	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	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 ovalifolium

dwarf blueberry, low blueberry

Alaska blueberry, oval-leaf blueberry

Habit

Deciduous, many-branched shrub 2-3 dm. tall, the branches strongly angled, greenish, usually puberulent.

Spreading deciduous shrub 4-10 dm. tall, flowering before the leaves have reached half their mature size; twigs yellowish-green strongly angled, glabrous, the old branches grayish.

Leaves

Leaves ovate to elliptic-lanceolate, 1-3 cm. long, light green, strongly serrulate, strongly veiny on the lower surface.

Leaves alternate, ovate-elliptic, 2-4 cm. long, glabrous, glaucous on the lower surface, entire.

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, about 7 mm. long;

pedicels 1-5 mm. long, strongly recurved in fruit, not enlarged immediately under the berry;

corolla entire, pinkish, narrowly urn-shaped, longer than broad, broadest just below mid-length;

anthers with dorsal awns and terminal pore-bearing tubes;

ovary inferior.

Fruits

Fruit a berry, dark red to bluish, 5-8 mm. long.

Fruit a berry, purplish-black to bluish-black, 6-9 mm. long.

Vaccinium ovalifolium

Flowering time

May-August

May-July

Habitat

Forest openings at middle elevations in the mountains

Coniferous forests and open slopes from low elevations to the subalpine.

Distribution

Occurring chiefly east of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to Oregon, east to the Rocky Mountains.

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

Occurring in forested and mountainous areas on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to Oregon, east to Alberta and Idaho, in the Great Lakes region, and eastern Canada; eastern Asia.

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

Origin

Native

Conservation status

Not of concern

Sibling taxa