Flora of North America species comparison

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Vaccinium myrtilloides

Vaccinium tenellum

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

small black blueberry, southern blueberry
Habit Plants forming ± open colonies, 1–11.5 dm; twigs greenish brown, terete, pilose or hairy. Plants forming extensive, open colonies, 1–7.5 dm; twigs yellowish green, ± terete, hairy.
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.

deciduous, rarely persistent;

blade green, spatulate to elliptic, 13–40 × 3–17 mm, subcoriaceous, margins sharply to obscurely serrate, surfaces glandular abaxially, hairy especially when young, rarely glabrous.
Flowers

calyx green, glabrous, (eglandular);

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

filaments usually hairy.

calyx pale green, sometimes hairy;

corolla usually white tinged with pink, cylindric, 5–9 mm;

filaments ± hairy.
Berries

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

black, 6–8 mm diam., sometimes puberulent.
Seeds

10–40, ca. 1 mm.

5–25, ca. 1 mm.
2n

= 24.

= 24.

Vaccinium myrtilloides

Vaccinium tenellum
Phenology Flowering late spring–early summer. Flowering winter–spring.
Habitat Open or disturbed sites in boreal forest, muskegs, bogs, barrens, headlands, outcrops, mountain meadows Dry sand hills, pine barrens, scrubby oak woods, open pine parkland, and flatwoods subject to burning
Elevation 0-1700 m (0-5600 ft) 0-200 m (0-700 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
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; FL; GA; MS; NC; SC; VA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Source FNA vol. 8, p. 529. FNA vol. 8, p. 528.
Parent taxa Ericaceae > subfam. Vaccinioideae > Vaccinium > sect. Cyanococcus Ericaceae > subfam. Vaccinioideae > Vaccinium > sect. Cyanococcus
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. scoparium, V. stamineum, V. uliginosum, V. vitis-idaea
Synonyms Cyanococcus canadensis, V. angustifolium var. myrtilloides, V. canadense Cyanococcus tenellus
Name authority Michaux: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 1: 234. 1803 , Aiton: Hort. Kew. 2: 12. 1789 ,
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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(If the plant you're looking for doesn't show up in the auto-complete list, that means it either isn't described in Flora of North America yet, or it's listed under a synonym. And please note that Flora of North America is still missing several plant families, including Fabaceae, Apiaceae, Boraginaceae, and Polemoniaceae.)

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