Flora of North America species comparison

The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

Vaccinium

Vaccinium membranaceum

bilberry, blueberry, cranberry, huckleberry

big huckleberry, black blueberry, black huckleberry, mountain huckleberry, square-twig blueberry, tall huckleberry, thin-leaf huckleberry
Habit Subshrubs, shrubs, vines, or trees. Plants forming small to extensive clumps, rarely crown-forming, 2–30 dm, not rhizomatous; twigs of current season yellow-green or reddish green, terete to slightly angled, glabrous or hairy in lines.
Stems

erect, spreading, or creeping, glabrous or hairy.

Leaves

persistent or deciduous;

petiole absent or present;

blade elliptic or ovate to oblong-lanceolate or spatulate, membranous to coriaceous, margins entire or serrate, plane or, sometimes, revolute, surfaces glabrous or hairy;

venation brochidodromous.

blades usually green, broadly elliptic to ovate, 25–50 × 11–23 mm, margins sharply serrate, surfaces glandular abaxially.
Inflorescences

axillary or terminal, racemes, usually 2–10-flowered, sometimes flowers solitary, (leafy); (bracteoles absent, present in sect. Oxycoccos).

Flowers

sepals 4–5, connate basally;

petals 4–5(–6), connate nearly their entire lengths, sometimes distinct or nearly so, white or cream to pink, bronze, or green, rarely red, corolla globose, cylindric, urceolate, or campanulate, lobes shorter to longer than tube;

filaments straight, flat, glabrous or hairy, without spurs;

stamens 8–10, included (sometimes exserted);

anthers with or without awns, dehiscent by pores (pores laciniate in sect. Polycodium);

pistil 4–5-carpellate;

ovary inferior, 4–5-locular or pseudo 10-locular;

stigma capitate.

calyx green, obscurely lobed, glabrous;

corolla white, cream, yellowish pink, or bronze, globose to urceolate, 3–5 × 5–7 mm, thin, glaucous;

filaments glabrous.
Fruits

baccate, ovoid to globose, fleshy.

Berries

shiny or dull black or deep purple, rarely red or white, 9–13 mm diam.
Seeds

2–40, ellipsoid;

testa reticulate.

ca. 1 mm.
x

= 12.

2n

= 48.

Vaccinium

Vaccinium membranaceum
Phenology Flowering late spring–early summer.
Habitat Coniferous woods, especially cut-over stands, talus slopes, subalpine fir forests, alpine heaths
Elevation 900-3500 m (3000-11500 ft)
Distribution
from USDA
North America; Mexico; Central America; West Indies; n South America; Europe; Asia (including Malesia)
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CA; CO; ID; MI; MT; OR; SD; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC; ON
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Species ca. 500 (25 in the flora).

The North American species of Vaccinium are distributed among ten sections. Some of these (e.g., Oxycoccus, Polycodium) have been treated as genera by recent authors, although only Oxycoccus has been recognized at genus rank widely among North American authors. Molecular data support the idea that Vaccinium is a natural genus, albeit large and diverse, provided that Oxycoccus is included.

In eastern North America, the name huckleberry is applied to species of Gaylussacia, while in western North America some species of Vaccinium are called huckleberries. Most, if not all, species of Vaccinium are edible, finding wide acceptance as fresh fruits, and for pies, preserves, etc. Some have medicinal value, especially V. macrocarpon for urinary problems. Further uses and references are noted with the individual species.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Vaccinium membranaceum is, by far, the most widely commercially utilized western huckleberry for fruit and is harvested extensively from the wild. This species served as an especially important source of food for native peoples throughout western North America, and the dried berries were used for winter food and trade.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Inflorescences in axils of leaves or bracts of shoots of current season (or older shoots)
→ 2
1. Inflorescences on previous year’s shoots or on older woody stems (sometimes on new growth as well)
→ 10
2. Berries 4-locular; corollas deeply 4-lobed
→ 3
2. Berries 5-locular; corollas globose to urceolate, shallowly or scarcely lobed [45c. sect. Myrtillus]
→ 4
3. Plants erect shrubs [45a. sect. Oxycoccoides].
V. erythrocarpum
3. Plants usually trailing vines, ascending [45c. sect. Oxycoccus (in part)].
V. macrocarpon
4. Berries red or bluish purple and translucent; twigs angled, green
→ 5
4. Berries deep purple, purplish black, black, or blue (rarely bluish black, maroon, reddish, or red); twigs usually ± terete, sometimes angled, yellow-green, green, reddish green, reddish brown, or golden brown
→ 6
5. Shrubs colonial, 0.7-2 dm; berries 4-6 mm diam.
V. scoparium
5. Shrubs crown-forming, 10-70 dm; berries 7-10 mm diam.
V. parvifolium
6. Leaf blades with margins sharply serrate, surfaces glandular abaxially
→ 7
6. Leaf blades with portions of margins ± entire, surfaces sometimes eglandular abaxially or, rarely, glandular throughout
→ 8
7. Twigs green, angled.
V. myrtillus
7. Twigs yellow-green or reddish green, terete to slightly angled.
V. membranaceum
8. Shrubs 3-40 dm, clumped.
V. ovalifolium
8. Shrubs 0.3-15 dm, forming small clumps to extensive colonies
→ 9
9. Twigs green (sometimes glaucous), usually glabrous, rarely hairy.
V. deliciosum
9. Twigs yellow-green, reddish green, or reddish brown, finely puberulent or, rarely, glabrous.
V. cespitosum
10. Twigs not verrucose
→ 11
10. Twigs verrucose [45i. sect. Cyanococcus]
→ 17
11. Leaves usually deciduous
→ 12
11. Leaves persistent
→ 14
12. Racemes 2-4-flowered, sometimes flowers solitary, ebracteate; corollas urceolate; berries blue [45b. sect. Vaccinium].
V. uliginosum
12. Racemes 5-17-flowered, sometimes flowers solitary, bracteate; corollas campanulate to urceolate; berries green, yellow-green, yellow, purple, or black
→ 13
13. Corollas campanulate; pedicels continuous with calyx tubes [45e. sect. Polycodium].
V. stamineum
13. Corollas campanulate to urceolate; pedicels articulated with calyx tubes [45g. sect. Batodendron].
V. arboreum
14. Plants usually trailing, sometimes ascending vines
→ 15
14. Plants subshrubs or shrubs
→ 16
15. Berries deep red, 4-locular; pedicels 2-3 cm [45c. sect. Oxycoccus (in part)].
V. oxycoccos
15. Berries black, 5-locular; pedicels 0.1-0.3 cm [45h. sect. Herpothamnus].
V. crassifolium
16. Plants rhizomatous, 0.1-3.5 dm; berries red, 4-locular [45d. sect. Vitis-idaea].
V. vitis-idaea
16. Plants clump- or crown-forming, (3-)4-12(-40) dm; berries black or blue, 5-locular [45j. sect. Pyxothamnus].
V. ovatum
17. Shrubs 10-50 dm; leaf blades 15-70 mm.
V. corymbosum
17. Shrubs 0.1-15 dm; leaf blades 5-62 mm
→ 18
18. Leaves persistent for 1+ years
→ 19
18. Leaves usually deciduous, rarely persistent
→ 20
19. Leaf blades glandular abaxially; twigs bright green; berries black.
V. myrsinites
19. Leaf blades glabrous abaxially; twigs pale green (glaucous); berries blue.
V. darrowii
20. Leaf blades glandular abaxially.
V. tenellum
20. Leaf blades eglandular abaxially
→ 21
21. Leaf blade margins sharply and uniformly serrate
→ 22
21. Leaf blade margins entire
→ 23
22. Shrubs 0.1-0.9 dm; leaf blades 2-6 mm wide.
V. boreale
22. Shrubs 1-3 dm; leaf blades (5-)6-16(-20) mm wide.
V. angustifolium
23. Leaf blades pale green or glaucous abaxially, surfaces usually glabrous; twigs hairy in lines or glabrous.
V. pallidum
23. Leaf blades green abaxially, surfaces densely hairy; twigs pilose or hairy
→ 24
24. Corollas and calyces glandular.
V. hirsutum
24. Corollas and calyces eglandular.
V. myrtilloides
Source FNA vol. 8, p. 515. Author: Sam P. Vander Kloet. FNA vol. 8, p. 523.
Parent taxa Ericaceae > subfam. Vaccinioideae Ericaceae > subfam. Vaccinioideae > Vaccinium > sect. Myrtillus
Sibling taxa
V. angustifolium, V. arboreum, V. boreale, V. cespitosum, V. corymbosum, V. crassifolium, V. darrowii, V. deliciosum, V. erythrocarpum, V. hirsutum, V. macrocarpon, V. myrsinites, V. myrtilloides, V. myrtillus, V. ovalifolium, V. ovatum, V. oxycoccos, V. pallidum, V. parvifolium, V. scoparium, V. stamineum, V. tenellum, V. uliginosum, V. vitis-idaea
Subordinate taxa
V. angustifolium, V. arboreum, V. boreale, V. cespitosum, V. corymbosum, V. crassifolium, V. darrowii, V. deliciosum, V. erythrocarpum, V. hirsutum, V. macrocarpon, V. membranaceum, V. myrsinites, V. myrtilloides, V. myrtillus, V. ovalifolium, V. ovatum, V. oxycoccos, V. pallidum, V. parvifolium, V. scoparium, V. stamineum, V. tenellum, V. uliginosum, V. vitis-idaea
Synonyms V. coccineum, V. globulare, V. membranaceum var. rigidum
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 349. (1753): Gen. Pl. ed. 5, 166. 1754 , Douglas ex Torrey: in C. Wilkes et al., U.S. Expl. Exped. 17: 377. (1874)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



Type/paste one or more Latin names into the boxes above; matching taxa will show up below the box as you type. You can use the up/down arrow keys to move through the list.

(If the plant you're looking for doesn't show up in the auto-complete list, that means it either isn't described in Flora of North America yet, or it's listed under a synonym. And please note that Flora of North America is still missing several plant families, including Apiaceae, Boraginaceae, and Polemoniaceae.)

Choose a data source: Flora of North America, OregonFlora, UW Burke Herbarium

The species comparison tool is brought to you by:
Northwest Wildflowers