Vaccinium hirsutum |
Vaccinium scoparium |
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hairy blueberry, small cluster blueberry, woolly berry, wooly berry |
grouse whortleberry, grouseberry, little-leaf huckleberry |
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Habit | Plants forming open colonies, 2–5(–7.5) dm; twigs green, slightly angled, pilose or hairy. | Plants forming extensive colonies, 0.7–2 dm, rhizomatous; twigs green, angled, glabrous; ultimate branches compact, often forming broomlike clumps or tufts. |
Leaves | deciduous; blade green, elliptic, 23–62 × 10–36 mm, subcoriaceous, margins entire, surfaces densely hairy, eglandular abaxially. |
blades pale green abaxially, elliptic, lanceolate, or ovate-lanceolate, 7–11 × 4–6 mm, margins finely serrulate, surfaces glabrous. |
Flowers | calyx green, glandular-hairy; corolla white, cylindric, 5–9 mm, (glandular-hairy); filaments hairy. |
calyx pale green, lobes vestigial, glabrous; corolla pink, globose to urceolate, 3–4 × 3–4 mm, thin, glaucous; filaments glabrous. |
Berries | black, 7–9 mm diam., hairy. |
red, ± translucent, or bluish purple, 4–6 mm diam. |
Seeds | 3–9, ca. 1 mm. |
ca. 1 mm. |
2n | = 48. |
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Vaccinium hirsutum |
Vaccinium scoparium |
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Phenology | Flowering summer. | Flowering early-mid summer. |
Habitat | Dry oak-pine ridges and mountain meadows | Alpine and subalpine meadows, heaths, talus slopes |
Elevation | 600-1500 m (2000-4900 ft) | 700-3000 m (2300-9800 ft) |
Distribution |
GA; NC; TN
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CA; CO; ID; MT; NM; NV; OR; SD; UT; WA; WY; AB; 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.) |
The soft, tart, bright red berries of Vaccinium scoparium, to 6 mm diameter, have fair to good flavor and were gathered and eaten raw by the Kootenay, Okanogan, Shuswap, and other Indian tribes. Harvesting was probably done using wooden or fish-bone combs. Small fruit size, low yields, and difficult harvesting make commercial prospects for V. scoparium questionable. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 8, p. 529. | FNA vol. 8, p. 522. |
Parent taxa | Ericaceae > subfam. Vaccinioideae > Vaccinium > sect. Cyanococcus | Ericaceae > subfam. Vaccinioideae > Vaccinium > sect. Myrtillus |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Cyanococcus hirsutus | V. myrtillus var. microphyllum, V. erythrococcum |
Name authority | Buckley: Amer. J. Sci. Arts 45: 175. 1843 , | Leiberg ex Coville: Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 5: 103. 1897 , |
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