Flora of North America species comparison

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Vaccinium myrtilloides

Vaccinium sect. Cyanococcus

bleuet fausse-myrtille, sour-top blueberry, sourtop, velvet-leaf blueberry, velvetleaf huckleberry
Habit Plants forming ± open colonies, 1–11.5 dm; twigs greenish brown, terete, pilose or hairy. Shrubs, usually erect, 0.1-50 dm, rhizomatous, (twigs of previous season verrucose, perennating buds dimorphic).
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.

usually deciduous, rarely persistent, (abaxial surface hairy or glabrous, adaxial surface usually glabrous).
Inflorescences

corymbs, terminal on axillary shoots from buds of previous season.
Pedicels

articulated with calyx tube.
Flowers

calyx green, glabrous, (eglandular);

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

filaments usually hairy.

sepals 5;

petals 5, connate for nearly their entire lengths, corolla urceolate to cylindric;

stamens 10, included;

anthers without awns, tubules 2-4 mm, with terminal pores.
Berries

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

pseudo 10-locular.
Seeds

10–40, ca. 1 mm.

(4-)10-25(-40).
2n

= 24.

= 24, 48, 72.

Vaccinium myrtilloides

Vaccinium sect. Cyanococcus
Phenology Flowering late spring–early summer.
Habitat Open or disturbed sites in boreal forest, muskegs, bogs, barrens, headlands, outcrops, mountain meadows
Elevation 0-1700 m (0-5600 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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North America
Discussion

Species 9 (9 in the flora).

Section Cyanococcus contains populations that are all homoploids, regardless of species, and are interfertile; naturally occurring hybrids have been described (S. P. Vander Kloet 1988 and references therein). The blueberries are endemic to North America; large-scale plantings elsewhere have resulted in the establishment of adventive populations.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 8, p. 529. FNA vol. 8, p. 526.
Parent taxa Ericaceae > subfam. Vaccinioideae > Vaccinium > sect. Cyanococcus Ericaceae > subfam. Vaccinioideae > Vaccinium
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
Subordinate taxa
Synonyms Cyanococcus canadensis, V. angustifolium var. myrtilloides, V. canadense
Name authority Michaux: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 1: 234. 1803 , A. Gray: Mem. Amer. Acad. Arts, n. s. 3: 53. (1846)
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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