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hairy blueberry, small cluster blueberry, woolly berry, wooly berry

Habit Plants forming open colonies, 2–5(–7.5) dm; twigs green, slightly angled, pilose or hairy.
Stems

erect, arching, spreading, creeping, or procumbent.

Leaves

deciduous;

blade green, elliptic, 23–62 × 10–36 mm, subcoriaceous, margins entire, surfaces densely hairy, eglandular abaxially.

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).

Flowers

calyx green, glandular-hairy;

corolla white, cylindric, 5–9 mm, (glandular-hairy);

filaments hairy.

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.

Berries

black, 7–9 mm diam., hairy.

Seeds

3–9, 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

= 48.

Vaccinium hirsutum

Ericaceae subfam. vaccinioideae

Phenology Flowering summer.
Habitat Dry oak-pine ridges and mountain meadows
Elevation 600-1500 m (2000-4900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
GA; NC; TN
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Nearly worldwide; especially arctic; temperate; and alpine areas; also very diverse in neotropical cloud forests
Discussion

Vaccinium hirsutum is uncommon (but not threatened) in Tennessee, rare in North Carolina, and probably extirpated in Georgia.

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

Genera 46, species ca. 1600 (12 genera, 58 species in the flora)

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

Source FNA vol. 8, p. 529. FNA vol. 8, p. 496. Author: Gordon C. Tucker.
Parent taxa Ericaceae > subfam. Vaccinioideae > Vaccinium > sect. Cyanococcus Ericaceae
Sibling taxa
V. angustifolium, V. arboreum, V. boreale, V. cespitosum, V. corymbosum, V. crassifolium, V. darrowii, V. deliciosum, V. erythrocarpum, 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
Subordinate taxa
Synonyms Cyanococcus hirsutus
Name authority Buckley: Amer. J. Sci. Arts 45: 175. 1843 , Arnott: M. Napier, Encycl. Brit. ed. 7 5: 118. (1832) — (as Vaccinieae)
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