Vaccinium cespitosum |
Ericaceae subfam. vaccinioideae |
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airelle gazonnante, dwarf bilberry, dwarf blueberry, dwarf huckleberry |
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Habit | Plants forming dense colonies, 0.3–6 dm, superficially rhizomatous; twigs yellow-green, reddish green, or reddish brown, terete to somewhat angled, finely puberulent or, rarely, glabrous. | |
Stems | erect, arching, spreading, creeping, or procumbent. |
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Leaves | blades green, usually oblanceolate, sometimes obovate or narrowly elliptic, 10–30 × 3–12 mm, margins usually serrulate from apex to at least mid blade, surfaces usually glandular abaxially, usually glabrous adaxially. |
deciduous or persistent, alternate, sometimes pseudoverticillate (Pieris); petiole usually present, sometimes absent (some species of Vaccinium); blade plane, abaxial groove absent. |
Inflorescences | 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). |
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Flowers | calyx pale green, lobes vestigial, glabrous; corolla white, white with pink striping, or pink, cylindric-urceolate to globose, 4–7 × 3–5 mm, thin, glaucous; filaments glabrous. |
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. |
Fruits | capsular, dehiscence loculicidal, or baccate or drupaceous, indehiscent. |
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Berries | usually blue, glaucous, rarely dull black, 5–9 mm diam. |
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Seeds | ca. 1 mm. |
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. |
2n | = 24. |
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Vaccinium cespitosum |
Ericaceae subfam. vaccinioideae |
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Phenology | Flowering late spring-mid summer. | |
Habitat | Open, usually dry habitats, from lowland to subalpine areas | |
Elevation | 0-4500 m (0-14800 ft) | |
Distribution |
AK; CA; CO; ID; ME; MI; MN; MT; NH; NM; NY; OR; VT; WA; WI; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NL; NS; NT; NU; ON; QC; SK; YT; Mexico (Chihuahua, Durango, Hidalgo); Central America (Guatemala)
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Nearly worldwide; especially arctic; temperate; and alpine areas; also very diverse in neotropical cloud forests |
Discussion | Genera 46, species ca. 1600 (12 genera, 58 species in the flora) (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 8, p. 524. | FNA vol. 8, p. 496. |
Parent taxa | Ericaceae > subfam. Vaccinioideae > Vaccinium > sect. Myrtillus | Ericaceae |
Sibling taxa | ||
Subordinate taxa | ||
Synonyms | V. arbuscula, V. caespitosum var. arbuscula, V. caespitosum var. paludicola, V. geminiflorum, V. nivictum, V. paludicola | |
Name authority | Michaux: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 1: 234. 1803 , | Arnott: M. Napier, Encycl. Brit. ed. 7 5: 118. (1832) — (as Vaccinieae) |
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