Vaccinium ovalifolium |
Vaccinium parvifolium |
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airelle à feuilles ovées, Alaska blueberry, early blueberry, oval-leaf blueberry, oval-leaf huckleberry |
red huckleberry |
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Habit | Plants crown-forming, clumped, suckering when disturbed, rarely forming extensive colonies, 3–40 dm, not rhizomatous; twigs yellow-green or golden brown, glaucous, usually terete, sometimes somewhat angled, glabrous, sometimes hairy in lines. | Plants crown-forming, sometimes suckering when injured, 10–70 dm, not rhizomatous; twigs of current season green, sharply angled, glabrous or minutely puberulent in lines; (short lateral branches on both orthotropic and plagiotropic shoots often divaricate to 75° giving shrub a distinct fasciculate aspect). |
Leaf | blades pale green or glaucous abaxially, slightly darker pale green adaxially, ovate to elliptic, rarely obovate, 25–39 × 16–20 mm, margins entire to obscurely serrate, abaxial surface glabrous, eglandular (sometimes hairy or glandular along midvein), adaxial surface usually glabrous (sometimes hairy and/or glandular). |
blades dark green, ovate to oblong-elliptic, 13–25 × 8–14 mm, margins entire, surfaces puberulent or glabrous abaxially, glabrous adaxially. |
Flowers | calyx pale green or glaucous, lobes vestigial or absent, glabrous; corolla pink, bronze-pink, or greenish white, globose, sometimes urceolate, 5–7 × 4–5 mm, thin, glaucous; filaments glabrous or pilose basally. |
calyx pale green, lobes spreading, distinct, broadly ovate, 0.4–0.6 mm, glabrous; corolla pink, bronze, or yellowish green, globose to urceolate, 4–6 × 3–5 mm, thin, glaucous; filaments glabrous. |
Berries | blue, dull purplish black, or black, sometimes glaucous, 8–10 mm diam. |
red, sometimes faintly glaucous, translucent, 7–10 mm diam. |
Seeds | ca. 1 mm. |
ca. 1 mm. |
2n | = 24, 48. |
= 24. |
Vaccinium ovalifolium |
Vaccinium parvifolium |
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Phenology | Flowering spring-mid summer(-late summer). | Flowering spring–summer. |
Habitat | Moist or mesic coniferous woods, transitional habitats adjacent to these coniferous stands, cut-over coniferous woods, verges of road cuts, margins of coniferous woods, peaty slopes | Coniferous woods, often on stumps and logs, disturbed areas |
Elevation | 0-2100 m (0-6900 ft) | 0-1100 m (0-3600 ft) |
Distribution |
AK; ID; MI; OR; SD; WA; AB; BC; NF; NS; ON; QC; YT; e Asia (c Japan, Kamchatka)
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AK; CA; OR; WA; BC
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Discussion | The red, waxy fruits of Vaccinium parvifolium were popular with all coastal Indian tribes and remain so with recreational pickers. The berries are somewhat sour but make excellent pastries and preserves. Commercial use of V. parvifolium is limited; vigorous growth, ease of harvest, and site adaptability provide opportunities. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 8, p. 524. | FNA vol. 8, p. 522. |
Parent taxa | Ericaceae > subfam. Vaccinioideae > Vaccinium > sect. Myrtillus | Ericaceae > subfam. Vaccinioideae > Vaccinium > sect. Myrtillus |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | V. alaskaense | |
Name authority | Smith: in A. Rees, Cycl. 36: Vaccinium no. 2. (1817) | Smith: in A. Rees, Cycl. 36: Vaccinium no. 3. 1817 , |
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