Flora of North America species comparison

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Vaccinium myrtillus

Vaccinium ovatum

bilberry, dwarf bilberry, dwarf blueberry, low bilberry, low blueberry, myrtle blueberry, whortleberry

California huckleberry, evergreen huckelberry, evergreen huckleberry, winter huckleberry
Habit Plants forming open colonies, 0.5–12 dm, rhizomatous; twigs green, conspicuously 3-angled, glabrous or minutely puberulent along grooves. Plants clump- or crown-forming; twigs ± terete, pilose.
Leaf

blades bright green, broadly elliptic or ovate, 19–27 × 7–11 mm, margins sharply serrate, surfaces laxly glandular abaxially.

blades pale green abaxially, lustrous dark green adaxially, narrowly ovate, 21–29 × 8–12 mm, coriaceous, margins sharply serrate, surfaces glandular abaxially.
Flowers

calyx green, lobes ± recurved (or absent and margins of tube sinuate), deltate, 0.4–0.6 mm, glabrous;

corolla pink, cream, or greenish white, globose, 3–5 × 5–7 mm, thin, glaucous;

filaments glabrous.

corolla pinkish, 3–5 mm;

filaments hairy.
Berries

purple-black or bluish black, rarely reddish or red, 7–9 mm diam.

black or blue, 6–8 mm diam. 2n = 24.
Seeds

ca. 1 mm.

2n

= 24, 48.

Vaccinium myrtillus

Vaccinium ovatum
Phenology Flowering late spring–summer. Flowering early spring-mid summer.
Habitat Heaths, montane heaths, boggy barrens, degraded meadows, open coniferous forests, oak parklands, disturbed or open birch woods, hummocky seepage slopes, moraines Edges of coniferous forests, also epiphytic on trunks of redwoods
Elevation 0-2600 m (0-8500 ft) 0-30 m (0-100 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CO; ID; MT; NM; NV; OR; UT; WA; AB; BC; Greenland; Europe; e Asia (Japan)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; OR; WA; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Vaccinium myrtillus fruits are popular in Europe and are known to possess antioxidants and other compounds beneficial to vascular health. Berries in Europe are extensively harvested from wild stands. In North America, the fruits were used by the Kootenai, Carrier, Shuswap, and other native tribes. The small plant and fruit sizes create challenges for commercialization in North America.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 8, p. 523. FNA vol. 8, p. 530.
Parent taxa Ericaceae > subfam. Vaccinioideae > Vaccinium > sect. Myrtillus Ericaceae > subfam. Vaccinioideae > Vaccinium > sect. Pyxothamnus
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. myrtilloides, 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. oxycoccos, V. pallidum, V. parvifolium, V. scoparium, V. stamineum, V. tenellum, V. uliginosum, V. vitis-idaea
Synonyms V. myrtillus subsp. oreophilum, V. myrtillus var. oreophilum, V. oreophilum V. ovatum var. saporosum
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 349. (1753) Pursh: Fl. Amer. Sept. 1: 290. 1813 ,
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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