Vaccinium hirsutum |
Vaccinium deliciosum |
|
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hairy blueberry, small cluster blueberry, woolly berry, wooly berry |
blue-leaf huckleberry, Cascade bilberry, Cascade blueberry, Cascade huckleberry, Cascades blueberry, Rainier blueberry |
|
Habit | Plants forming open colonies, 2–5(–7.5) dm; twigs green, slightly angled, pilose or hairy. | 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. |
Leaves | deciduous; blade green, elliptic, 23–62 × 10–36 mm, subcoriaceous, margins entire, surfaces densely hairy, eglandular abaxially. |
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. |
Flowers | calyx green, glandular-hairy; corolla white, cylindric, 5–9 mm, (glandular-hairy); filaments hairy. |
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. |
Berries | black, 7–9 mm diam., hairy. |
usually blue, glaucous, sometimes dull black, maroon, or red, 9–13 mm diam. |
Seeds | 3–9, ca. 1 mm. |
ca. 1 mm. |
2n | = 48. |
= 48. |
Vaccinium hirsutum |
Vaccinium deliciosum |
|
Phenology | Flowering summer. | Flowering late spring–early summer. |
Habitat | Dry oak-pine ridges and mountain meadows | Alpine meadows, subalpine coniferous woods, talus slopes |
Elevation | 600-1500 m (2000-4900 ft) | 600-2000 m (2000-6600 ft) |
Distribution |
GA; NC; TN
|
CA; ID; OR; WA; BC
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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.) |
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.) |
Source | FNA vol. 8, p. 529. | FNA vol. 8, p. 523. |
Parent taxa | Ericaceae > subfam. Vaccinioideae > Vaccinium > sect. Cyanococcus | Ericaceae > subfam. Vaccinioideae > Vaccinium > sect. Myrtillus |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Cyanococcus hirsutus | |
Name authority | Buckley: Amer. J. Sci. Arts 45: 175. 1843 , | Piper: Mazama 2: 103. 1901 , |
Web links |
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