Vaccinium deliciosum
Vaccinium sect. Myrtillus
blue-leaf huckleberry, Cascade bilberry, Cascade blueberry, Cascade huckleberry, Cascades blueberry, Rainier blueberry
bilberry, dwarf bilberry, dwarf blueberry, low bilberry, low blueberry, myrtle blueberry, whortleberry
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.
deciduous, rarely subpersistent, (usually distichous).
solitary flowers in axils of proximalmost leaves of leafy shoots of current year.
continuous with calyx tube.
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.
sepals 5, (ca. 2 mm);
petals 5, connate for nearly their entire lengths, corolla (closed in bud), globose to urceolate;
stamens 10, included;
anthers with conspicuous awns, tubules ca. 1-2 mm, with terminal pores.
usually blue, glaucous, sometimes dull black, maroon, or red, 9–13 mm diam.
5-locular (each locule containing 10-50 ovules).
ca. 1 mm.
(3-)10-35.
= 48.
Vaccinium deliciosum
Vaccinium sect. Myrtillus
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.)
Species 7 (7 in the flora).
Section Myrtillus is restricted to the Northern Hemisphere and has its greatest diversity along the Pacific Rim from Japan to Guatemala (S. P. Vander Kloet and T. A. Dickinson 1999). All of the seven species of this section occur in the flora area; Vaccinium ovalifolium also occurs in eastern Asia, V. caespitosum extends southward to Guatemala, and V. myrtillus is circumboreal. Species of the section are commonly called huckleberries, blueberries, bilberries, or whortleberries. All produce edible fruit, and most were food sources for Native American peoples in western North America. Although none has been domesticated, some species show potential for commercial cultivation.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
- Local floras:
BC, 
CA, 
OR, 
WA - Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos,
Flora NW, 
PNW Herbaria, Turner Photog. 
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
- Plants of the World Online
- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
- Google Image Search
