Flora of North America species comparison

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Vaccinium myrtilloides

Vaccinium uliginosum

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

airelle des marécages, alpine blueberry, blueberry, bog bilberry, bog blueberry
Habit Plants forming ± open colonies, 1–11.5 dm; twigs greenish brown, terete, pilose or hairy. Plants forming dense mats or open, extensive colonies; twigs of current season pale green, terete, glabrous or faintly puberulent, not verrucose.
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 usually glaucous abaxially, green to glaucous adaxially, orbiculate, ovate, or obovate to narrowly elliptic, 8–14 × 3–7 mm, membranous, margins entire, surfaces often faintly puberulent, sometimes hairy throughout.
Flowers

calyx green, glabrous, (eglandular);

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

filaments usually hairy.

sepals usually distinct;

corolla white to pink, 3–4(–5) mm, lobes 0.3–0.4 mm;

filaments glabrous.
Berries

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

blue, 6–8 mm diam., glaucous.
Seeds

10–40, ca. 1 mm.

2n

= 24.

= 24, 48, 72.

Vaccinium myrtilloides

Vaccinium uliginosum
Phenology Flowering late spring–early summer. Flowering Jun–Jul.
Habitat Open or disturbed sites in boreal forest, muskegs, bogs, barrens, headlands, outcrops, mountain meadows Wet or dry acidic sites in boreal taiga, tundras, and alpine thickets and krummholz
Elevation 0-1700 m (0-5600 ft) 0-2200 m (0-7200 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
AK; CA; ID; ME; MI; MN; MT; NH; NV; NY; OR; UT; VT; WA; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NF; NS; NT; NU; ON; PE; QC; SK; YT; SPM; Greenland; n Eurasia
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Vaccinium uliginosum is transcontinental in North America between 60° and 70° north latitude; farther north it is rare, especially in the Queen Elizabeth Islands. To the southwest, it is found as far as northern California and northwestern Utah. The summits of the White Mountains of New Hampshire form its southernmost limit in eastern North America. This wide-ranging plant shows considerable variation, notably in floral morphology. Subspecies have been recognized (cf. S. B. Young 1970); a review of morphological variation by H. J. Warr (1981) did not support the distinctiveness of infraspecific taxa.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 8, p. 529. FNA vol. 8, p. 518.
Parent taxa Ericaceae > subfam. Vaccinioideae > Vaccinium > sect. Cyanococcus Ericaceae > subfam. Vaccinioideae > Vaccinium > sect. 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
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. tenellum, V. vitis-idaea
Synonyms Cyanococcus canadensis, V. angustifolium var. myrtilloides, V. canadense V. gaultherioides, V. occidentale, V. uliginosum subsp. alpinum, V. uliginosum var. alpinum, V. uliginosum subsp. gaultherioides, V. uliginosum subsp. microphyllum, V. uliginosum subsp. occidentale, V. uliginosum var. occidentale, V. uliginosum subsp. pedris, V. uliginosum subsp. pubescens, V. uliginosum var. salicinum
Name authority Michaux: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 1: 234. 1803 , Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 350. 1753 ,
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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