Burke: Vaccinium ovalifolium vs. Vaccinium membranaceum

	Vaccinium ovalifolium	Vaccinium membranaceum
	Alaska blueberry, oval-leaf blueberry	square-twig blueberry, tall huckleberry, thin-leaved huckleberry
Habit	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.	Deciduous spreading shrub 0.5-2 m. tall, the young twigs slightly angled, yellow-green, glabrous, the old bark grayish and shredding.
Leaves	Leaves alternate, ovate-elliptic, 2-4 cm. long, glabrous, glaucous on the lower surface, entire.	Leaves alternate, thin, ovate to elliptic-obovate, tapered and pointed at the tip and rounded-acute at the base, 2-5 cm. long, finely serrulate nearly full length, sparsely glandular and paler on the lower surfaces.
Flowers	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.	Flowers single in the axils on pedicels 5-10 mm. long, pale yellowish-pink, about 6 mm. long; calyx obscurely 5-lobed; corolla entire, broadly urn-shaped, longer than broad; anthers with dorsal awns and apical, pore-bearing tubes; ovary inferior.
Fruits	Fruit a berry, purplish-black to bluish-black, 6-9 mm. long.	Fruit a berry, blackish-purple or dark purplish-reddish, not glaucous, 7-9 mm. broad, broader than high.

	Vaccinium ovalifolium	Vaccinium membranaceum
Flowering time	May-July	May-July
Habitat	Coniferous forests and open slopes from low elevations to the subalpine.	Common in dry to moist coniferous forests and open areas, moderate to mid-elevations in the mountains.
Distribution	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]	Widely distributed on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, east to the Rocky Mountains and Great Lakes region. [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. myrtillus, V. ovatum, V. oxycoccos, V. parvifolium, V. scoparium, V. uliginosum	V. cespitosum, V. corymbosum, V. deliciosum, V. macrocarpon, V. myrtilloides, V. myrtillus, V. ovalifolium, 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, CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, 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 membranaceum

Alaska blueberry, oval-leaf blueberry

square-twig blueberry, tall huckleberry, thin-leaved huckleberry

Habit

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.

Deciduous spreading shrub 0.5-2 m. tall, the young twigs slightly angled, yellow-green, glabrous, the old bark grayish and shredding.

Leaves

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

Leaves alternate, thin, ovate to elliptic-obovate, tapered and pointed at the tip and rounded-acute at the base, 2-5 cm. long, finely serrulate nearly full length, sparsely glandular and paler on the lower surfaces.

Flowers

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.

Flowers single in the axils on pedicels 5-10 mm. long, pale yellowish-pink, about 6 mm. long;

calyx obscurely 5-lobed;

corolla entire, broadly urn-shaped, longer than broad;

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

ovary inferior.

Fruits

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

Fruit a berry, blackish-purple or dark purplish-reddish, not glaucous, 7-9 mm. broad, broader than high.

Vaccinium ovalifolium

Vaccinium membranaceum

Flowering time

May-July

Habitat

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

Common in dry to moist coniferous forests and open areas, moderate to mid-elevations in the mountains.

Distribution

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]

Widely distributed on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, east to the Rocky Mountains and Great Lakes region.

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

Origin

Native

Conservation status

Not of concern

Sibling taxa