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

blue-leaf huckleberry, Cascade bilberry, Cascade blueberry, Cascade huckleberry, Cascades blueberry, Rainier blueberry

Darrow's blueberry, Darrow's evergreen blueberry, southern highbush blueberry

Habit Plants forming small clumps to extensive open colonies, 0.5–15 dm, rhizomatous; twigs green, sometimes glaucous, ± terete, rarely angled, usually glabrous, rarely hairy along veins or puberulent. Plants forming extensive open colonies, 1–15 dm; twigs pale green, glaucous, ± terete, puberulent.
Leaves

blades usually glaucous, obovate, oblanceolate, or, rarely, elliptic, 17–35 × 9–17 mm, margins usually serrate for at least distal 2/3, surfaces usually glabrous, eglandular or, rarely, glandular throughout, often glandular-hairy along midvein.

persistent for 1+ years;

blade usually pale green abaxially, dark green adaxially, elliptic, 7–11 × 3–5 mm, coriaceous, margins entire, (often inrolled), surfaces usually glabrous abaxially (rarely minutely hairy along midvein).

Flowers

calyx glaucous, lobes indistinct or shallow, glabrous;

corolla pink, creamy pink, or red, globose to globular-urceolate, 4–6 × 5–7 mm, thin, glaucous;

filaments glabrous.

calyx greenish, glabrous;

corolla white tinged with pink or red, ± urceolate, 4–6 mm;

filaments ciliate.

Berries

usually blue, glaucous, sometimes dull black, maroon, or red, 9–13 mm diam.

blue, glaucous, 8–10 mm diam., glabrous.

Seeds

ca. 1 mm.

10–20, ca. 1 mm.

2n

= 48.

= 24.

Vaccinium deliciosum

Vaccinium darrowii

Phenology Flowering late spring–early summer. Flowering winter–spring.
Habitat Alpine meadows, subalpine coniferous woods, talus slopes Low flatwoods, scrubby flatwoods, oak-scrub, palmetto scrubs and swales
Elevation 600-2000 m [2000-6600 ft] 0-30 m [0-100 ft]
Distribution
map from FNA
CA; ID; OR; WA; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
map from FNA
AL; FL; GA; LA; MS
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Vaccinium deliciosum produces especially flavorful berries. Research at the University of Idaho and Washington State University identified 31 aromatic flavor compounds in the fruits. Despite its outstanding flavor and large fruit size, it is harvested less than is V. membranaceum because it has a smaller range and is less abundant there than its black-fruited congener. Also, like V. membranaceum, V. deliciosum is native at higher elevations and can be difficult to grow at low elevations. Although rhizomatous, V. deliciosum has a dense root system and transplants easily.

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

Parent taxa Ericaceae > subfam. Vaccinioideae > Vaccinium > sect. Myrtillus Ericaceae > subfam. Vaccinioideae > Vaccinium > sect. Cyanococcus
Sibling taxa
V. angustifolium, V. arboreum, V. boreale, V. cespitosum, V. corymbosum, V. crassifolium, V. darrowii, 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
V. angustifolium, V. arboreum, V. boreale, V. cespitosum, V. corymbosum, V. crassifolium, 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. myrsinites var. glaucum
Name authority Piper: Mazama 2: 103. 1901 , Camp: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 69: 240. 1942 (as darrowi) ,
Source FNA vol. 8, p. 523. Treatment author: Sam P. Vander Kloet. FNA vol. 8, p. 527. Treatment author: Sam P. Vander Kloet.
Web links