Burke: Vaccinium uliginosum vs. Vaccinium myrtilloides

	Vaccinium uliginosum	Vaccinium myrtilloides
	bog bilberry, bog blueberry	velvet-leaf blueberry
Habit	Deciduous, branching shrub, the stems 2-6 dm. tall, not angled, the young bark yellowish-green, becoming reddish-gray with age.	Deciduous shrubs, forming open colonies, the stems 1-11.5 dm. tall; twigs greenish-brown, terete, hairy.
Leaves	Leaves alternate, entire, oblanceolate 1-3 cm. long, glabrous or finely puberulent.	Leaves alternate, the blades green, elliptic, 23-35 mm. long and 8-16 mm. wide, entire, usually densely hairy, without glands.
Flowers	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.	Flowers solitary or few in the leaf axils; calyx green, glabrous; corolla urn-shaped, greenish-white to pink, 3-5 mm. long; stamens 10, the filaments hairy; anthers opening by pores; ovary inferior.
Fruits	Fruit a blue berry, glaucous, 5-7 mm. broad.	Berries blue, 6-8 mm. in diameter, glabrous and glaucous

	Vaccinium uliginosum	Vaccinium myrtilloides
Flowering time	June-August	May-June
Habitat	Bogs and fens from low elevation to subalpine.	Moist forests, peatlands.
Distribution	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]	British Columbia east to Labrador, and in the northern tier of states, Montana to West Virginia; Okanogan County in Washington. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Native	Native
Conservation status	Not of concern	Threatened in Washington (WANHP)
Sibling taxa	V. cespitosum, V. corymbosum, V. deliciosum, V. macrocarpon, V. membranaceum, V. myrtilloides, V. myrtillus, V. ovalifolium, V. ovatum, V. oxycoccos, V. parvifolium, V. scoparium	V. cespitosum, V. corymbosum, V. deliciosum, V. macrocarpon, V. membranaceum, 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, 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 uliginosum

Vaccinium myrtilloides

bog bilberry, bog blueberry

velvet-leaf blueberry

Habit

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

Deciduous shrubs, forming open colonies, the stems 1-11.5 dm. tall; twigs greenish-brown, terete, hairy.

Leaves

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

Leaves alternate, the blades green, elliptic, 23-35 mm. long and 8-16 mm. wide, entire, usually densely hairy, without glands.

Flowers

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.

Flowers solitary or few in the leaf axils;

calyx green, glabrous;

corolla urn-shaped, greenish-white to pink, 3-5 mm. long;

stamens 10, the filaments hairy;

anthers opening by pores;

ovary inferior.

Fruits

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

Berries blue, 6-8 mm. in diameter, glabrous and glaucous

Vaccinium uliginosum

Vaccinium myrtilloides

Flowering time

June-August

May-June

Habitat

Bogs and fens from low elevation to subalpine.

Moist forests, peatlands.

Distribution

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]