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

grouse whortleberry, grouseberry, little-leaf huckleberry

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.

Vaccinium hirsutum

Vaccinium scoparium

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
from FNA
GA; NC; TN
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; CO; ID; MT; NM; NV; OR; SD; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
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
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
V. angustifolium, V. arboreum, V. boreale, V. cespitosum, V. corymbosum, V. crassifolium, V. darrowii, V. deliciosum, V. erythrocarpum, V. hirsutum, V. macrocarpon, V. membranaceum, V. myrsinites, V. myrtilloides, V. myrtillus, V. ovalifolium, V. ovatum, V. oxycoccos, V. pallidum, V. parvifolium, V. stamineum, V. tenellum, V. uliginosum, V. vitis-idaea
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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