Vaccinium myrtilloides |
Vaccinium parvifolium |
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bleuet fausse-myrtille, sour-top blueberry, sourtop, velvet-leaf blueberry, velvetleaf huckleberry |
red huckleberry |
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Habit | Plants forming ± open colonies, 1–11.5 dm; twigs greenish brown, terete, pilose or hairy. | Plants crown-forming, sometimes suckering when injured, 10–70 dm, not rhizomatous; twigs of current season green, sharply angled, glabrous or minutely puberulent in lines; (short lateral branches on both orthotropic and plagiotropic shoots often divaricate to 75° giving shrub a distinct fasciculate aspect). |
Leaves | deciduous; blade green, elliptic, 23–35 × 8–16 mm, membranous to subcoriaceous, margins entire, surfaces ± densely hairy (sometimes mostly on veins), eglandular, sometimes glabrescent. |
blades dark green, ovate to oblong-elliptic, 13–25 × 8–14 mm, margins entire, surfaces puberulent or glabrous abaxially, glabrous adaxially. |
Flowers | calyx green, glabrous, (eglandular); corolla greenish white to pink, urceolate, 3–5 mm, (eglandular); filaments usually hairy. |
calyx pale green, lobes spreading, distinct, broadly ovate, 0.4–0.6 mm, glabrous; corolla pink, bronze, or yellowish green, globose to urceolate, 4–6 × 3–5 mm, thin, glaucous; filaments glabrous. |
Berries | blue, glaucous, 6–8 mm diam., glabrous. |
red, sometimes faintly glaucous, translucent, 7–10 mm diam. |
Seeds | 10–40, ca. 1 mm. |
ca. 1 mm. |
2n | = 24. |
= 24. |
Vaccinium myrtilloides |
Vaccinium parvifolium |
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Phenology | Flowering late spring–early summer. | Flowering spring–summer. |
Habitat | Open or disturbed sites in boreal forest, muskegs, bogs, barrens, headlands, outcrops, mountain meadows | Coniferous woods, often on stumps and logs, disturbed areas |
Elevation | 0-1700 m (0-5600 ft) | 0-1100 m (0-3600 ft) |
Distribution |
CT; IA; IL; IN; MA; ME; MN; MT; NH; NY; OH; PA; VT; WI; WV; AB; BC; LB; MB; NB; NS; NT; ON; PE; QC; SK
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AK; CA; OR; WA; BC
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Discussion | The red, waxy fruits of Vaccinium parvifolium were popular with all coastal Indian tribes and remain so with recreational pickers. The berries are somewhat sour but make excellent pastries and preserves. Commercial use of V. parvifolium is limited; vigorous growth, ease of harvest, and site adaptability provide opportunities. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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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 canadensis, V. angustifolium var. myrtilloides, V. canadense | |
Name authority | Michaux: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 1: 234. 1803 , | Smith: in A. Rees, Cycl. 36: Vaccinium no. 3. 1817 , |
Web links |
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