Burke: Vaccinium ovatum vs. Vaccinium ovalifolium

	Vaccinium ovatum	Vaccinium ovalifolium
	evergreen huckleberry	Alaska blueberry, oval-leaf blueberry
Habit	Evergreen, spreading to upright shrub, 0.5-4 m. tall, the young stems pubescent.	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 alternate, aligned horizontally along the stem, short-petiolate, ovate to ovate-lanceolate, leathery, bright gloss-green on the upper surface, lighter beneath, the margins thickened and sharply serrulate.	Leaves alternate, ovate-elliptic, 2-4 cm. long, glabrous, glaucous on the lower surface, entire.
Flowers	Flowers axillary in 3- to 10-flowered racemes; corolla entire, bright pinkish, narrowly bell-shaped, about 7.5 mm. long, the 5 lobes short and spreading; filaments densely pubescent; anthers with long, straight pore-bearing tubes but without awns; 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, deep purplish-black, 4-7 mm. broad, glaucous or shining.	Fruit a berry, purplish-black to bluish-black, 6-9 mm. long.

	Vaccinium ovatum	Vaccinium ovalifolium
Identification notes	Our only Vaccinium species with leathery, evergreen leaves and flowers in recemes.
Flowering time	April-August	May-July
Habitat	Coniferous forests at low elevations.	Coniferous forests and open slopes from low elevations to the subalpine.
Distribution	Occurring west of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California. [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. myrtillus, V. ovalifolium, 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, 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	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

evergreen huckleberry

Alaska blueberry, oval-leaf blueberry

Habit

Evergreen, spreading to upright shrub, 0.5-4 m. tall, the young stems pubescent.

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 alternate, aligned horizontally along the stem, short-petiolate, ovate to ovate-lanceolate, leathery, bright gloss-green on the upper surface, lighter beneath, the margins thickened and sharply serrulate.

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

Flowers

Flowers axillary in 3- to 10-flowered racemes;

corolla entire, bright pinkish, narrowly bell-shaped, about 7.5 mm. long, the 5 lobes short and spreading;

filaments densely pubescent;

anthers with long, straight pore-bearing tubes but without awns;

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, deep purplish-black, 4-7 mm. broad, glaucous or shining.

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

Vaccinium ovatum

Vaccinium ovalifolium

Identification notes

Our only Vaccinium species with leathery, evergreen leaves and flowers in recemes.

Flowering time

April-August

May-July

Habitat

Coniferous forests at low elevations.

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

Distribution

Occurring west of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California.

[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