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bleuet fausse-myrtille, sour-top blueberry, sourtop, velvet-leaf blueberry, velvetleaf huckleberry

grouse whortleberry, grouseberry, little-leaf huckleberry

Habit Plants forming ± open colonies, 1–11.5 dm; twigs greenish brown, terete, 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, 23–35 × 8–16 mm, membranous to subcoriaceous, margins entire, surfaces ± densely hairy (sometimes mostly on veins), eglandular, sometimes glabrescent.

blades pale green abaxially, elliptic, lanceolate, or ovate-lanceolate, 7–11 × 4–6 mm, margins finely serrulate, surfaces glabrous.

Flowers

calyx green, glabrous, (eglandular);

corolla greenish white to pink, urceolate, 3–5 mm, (eglandular);

filaments usually hairy.

calyx pale green, lobes vestigial, glabrous;

corolla pink, globose to urceolate, 3–4 × 3–4 mm, thin, glaucous;

filaments glabrous.

Berries

blue, glaucous, 6–8 mm diam., glabrous.

red, ± translucent, or bluish purple, 4–6 mm diam.

Seeds

10–40, ca. 1 mm.

ca. 1 mm.

2n

= 24.

Vaccinium myrtilloides

Vaccinium scoparium

Phenology Flowering late spring–early summer. Flowering early-mid summer.
Habitat Open or disturbed sites in boreal forest, muskegs, bogs, barrens, headlands, outcrops, mountain meadows Alpine and subalpine meadows, heaths, talus slopes
Elevation 0-1700 m (0-5600 ft) 700-3000 m (2300-9800 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
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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[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; CO; ID; MT; NM; NV; OR; SD; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC
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[BONAP county map]
Discussion

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. hirsutum, V. macrocarpon, V. membranaceum, V. myrsinites, 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 canadensis, V. angustifolium var. myrtilloides, V. canadense V. myrtillus var. microphyllum, V. erythrococcum
Name authority Michaux: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 1: 234. 1803 , Leiberg ex Coville: Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 5: 103. 1897 ,
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