Flora of North America species comparison

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Vaccinium myrsinites

Vaccinium deliciosum

Florida evergreen blueberry, shiny blueberry

blue-leaf huckleberry, Cascade bilberry, Cascade blueberry, Cascade huckleberry, Cascades blueberry, Rainier blueberry
Habit Plants forming extensive open colonies, 1.4–10 dm; twigs bright green, ± angled, hairy in lines. 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

persistent for 1+ years;

blade green, elliptic, 5–9 × 3–5 mm, coriaceous, margins ± serrulate, surfaces glandular 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 pinkish white, becoming greenish, glabrous;

corolla white to pink or red, ± urceolate, 4–8 mm;

filaments ciliate along margins.

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., glabrous.

usually blue, glaucous, sometimes dull black, maroon, or red, 9–13 mm diam.
Seeds

4–13, ca. 1 mm.

ca. 1 mm.
2n

= 24, 48.

= 48.

Vaccinium myrsinites

Vaccinium deliciosum
Phenology Flowering winter–spring. Flowering late spring–early summer.
Habitat Flatwoods, sand-pine scrub, oak-palmetto scrub, scrubby flatwoods, rosemary balds Alpine meadows, subalpine coniferous woods, talus slopes
Elevation 0-30 m (0-100 ft) 600-2000 m (2000-6600 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; FL; GA; SC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; ID; OR; WA; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

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. 527. FNA vol. 8, p. 523.
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. hirsutum, V. macrocarpon, V. membranaceum, 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. erythrocarpum, V. hirsutum, 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
Synonyms Cyanococcus myrsinites, V. nitidum
Name authority Lamarck: in J. Lamarck et al., Encycl. 1: 73. (1783) Piper: Mazama 2: 103. 1901 ,
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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