Flora of North America species comparison

erect;

branches spreading, without silvery scales (sometimes hairy).

erect, arching, spreading, creeping, or procumbent.

deciduous;

blade (not glaucous), oblong to oblanceolate or obovate, membranous, margins spinulose-serrulate, plane, surfaces glabrous, often unicellular-hairy on major veins abaxially;

venation reticulodromous.

deciduous or persistent, alternate, sometimes pseudoverticillate (Pieris);

petiole usually present, sometimes absent (some species of Vaccinium);

blade plane, abaxial groove absent.

axillary, fascicled or solitary racemes, 8–25-flowered, (produced on previous year’s wood); (bracteoles 2, distal).

usually axillary, sometimes terminal, usually panicles or racemes, sometimes corymbs or fascicles, sometimes solitary flowers, (borne on leafy twigs, except Zenobia on leafless twigs);

perulae absent;

bracts much shorter than sepals (sometimes absent).

sepals 5, connate basally, lanceolate or ovate;

petals 5, connate basally nearly their entire lengths, white to pale pink, corolla cylindric, lobes much shorter than tube;

stamens 8(–10), included;

filaments ± straight, flattened, glabrous, without spurs;

anthers with 2 or 4 awns proximal to anther-filament junction, dehiscent by terminal pores;

pistil 5-carpellate;

ovary pseudo 10-locular;

stigma 5-lobed, capitate.

pendulous;

perianth and androecium hypogynous or epigynous (Gaylussacia, Vaccinium);

sepals (4-)5[-8];

petals 4-5(-6), connate (rarely distinct or nearly so in some species of Vaccinium), corolla deciduous, campanulate, cylindric, or urceolate, lobes usually much shorter (sometimes longer) than tube;

intrastaminal nectary disc absent or present;

stamens 8-10[-16];

anthers dehiscent by terminal pores or short slits;

ovary 5- or 10-locular;

placentation axile;

style straight.

capsular, depressed-globose, dry.

capsular, dehiscence loculicidal, or baccate or drupaceous, indehiscent.

5–10, oblanceoloid or wedge- or crescent-shaped, flattened or not;

testa smooth, shiny, reticulate.

2-300, distinct, ovoid or obovoid to ellipsoid, lanceoloid, or conic, to angular or wedge- or crescent-shaped, usually not winged, sometimes slightly winged or tailed.

= 11.