Flora of North America species comparison

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Vaccinium myrsinites

Vaccinium membranaceum

Florida evergreen blueberry, shiny blueberry

big huckleberry, black blueberry, black huckleberry, mountain huckleberry, square-twig blueberry, tall huckleberry, thin-leaf huckleberry
Habit Plants forming extensive open colonies, 1.4–10 dm; twigs bright green, ± angled, hairy in lines. Plants forming small to extensive clumps, rarely crown-forming, 2–30 dm, not rhizomatous; twigs of current season yellow-green or reddish green, terete to slightly angled, glabrous or hairy in lines.
Leaves

persistent for 1+ years;

blade green, elliptic, 5–9 × 3–5 mm, coriaceous, margins ± serrulate, surfaces glandular abaxially.

blades usually green, broadly elliptic to ovate, 25–50 × 11–23 mm, margins sharply serrate, surfaces glandular abaxially.
Flowers

calyx pinkish white, becoming greenish, glabrous;

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

filaments ciliate along margins.

calyx green, obscurely lobed, glabrous;

corolla white, cream, yellowish pink, or bronze, globose to urceolate, 3–5 × 5–7 mm, thin, glaucous;

filaments glabrous.
Berries

black, 7–9 mm diam., glabrous.

shiny or dull black or deep purple, rarely red or white, 9–13 mm diam.
Seeds

4–13, ca. 1 mm.

ca. 1 mm.
2n

= 24, 48.

= 48.

Vaccinium myrsinites

Vaccinium membranaceum
Phenology Flowering winter–spring. Flowering late spring–early summer.
Habitat Flatwoods, sand-pine scrub, oak-palmetto scrub, scrubby flatwoods, rosemary balds Coniferous woods, especially cut-over stands, talus slopes, subalpine fir forests, alpine heaths
Elevation 0-30 m (0-100 ft) 900-3500 m (3000-11500 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; FL; GA; SC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CA; CO; ID; MI; MT; OR; SD; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC; ON
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Vaccinium membranaceum is, by far, the most widely commercially utilized western huckleberry for fruit and is harvested extensively from the wild. This species served as an especially important source of food for native peoples throughout western North America, and the dried berries were used for winter food and trade.

(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. deliciosum, V. erythrocarpum, V. hirsutum, V. macrocarpon, 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 V. coccineum, V. globulare, V. membranaceum var. rigidum
Name authority Lamarck: in J. Lamarck et al., Encycl. 1: 73. (1783) Douglas ex Torrey: in C. Wilkes et al., U.S. Expl. Exped. 17: 377. (1874)
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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