Vaccinium deliciosum
Vaccinium tenellum
blue-leaf huckleberry, Cascade bilberry, Cascade blueberry, Cascade huckleberry, Cascades blueberry, Rainier blueberry
small black blueberry, southern blueberry
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 persistent;
blade green, spatulate to elliptic, 13–40 × 3–17 mm, subcoriaceous, margins sharply to obscurely serrate, surfaces glandular abaxially, hairy especially when young, rarely glabrous.
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 pale green, sometimes hairy;
corolla usually white tinged with pink, cylindric, 5–9 mm;
filaments ± hairy.
usually blue, glaucous, sometimes dull black, maroon, or red, 9–13 mm diam.
black, 6–8 mm diam., sometimes puberulent.
ca. 1 mm.
5–25, ca. 1 mm.
= 48.
= 24.
Vaccinium deliciosum
Vaccinium tenellum
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.)
- 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
