Vaccinium ovatum |
Ericaceae subfam. vaccinioideae |
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California huckleberry, evergreen huckelberry, evergreen huckleberry, winter huckleberry |
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Habit | Plants clump- or crown-forming; twigs ± terete, pilose. | |
Stems | erect, arching, spreading, creeping, or procumbent. |
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Leaves | blades pale green abaxially, lustrous dark green adaxially, narrowly ovate, 21–29 × 8–12 mm, coriaceous, margins sharply serrate, surfaces glandular abaxially. |
deciduous or persistent, alternate, sometimes pseudoverticillate (Pieris); petiole usually present, sometimes absent (some species of Vaccinium); blade plane, abaxial groove absent. |
Inflorescences | usually axillary, sometimes terminal, usually panicles or racemes, sometimes corymbs or fascicles, sometimes solitary flowers, (borne on leafy twigs, except Zenobia on leafless twigs); perulae absent; bracts much shorter than sepals (sometimes absent). |
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Flowers | corolla pinkish, 3–5 mm; filaments hairy. |
pendulous; perianth and androecium hypogynous or epigynous (Gaylussacia, Vaccinium); sepals (4-)5[-8]; petals 4-5(-6), connate (rarely distinct or nearly so in some species of Vaccinium), corolla deciduous, campanulate, cylindric, or urceolate, lobes usually much shorter (sometimes longer) than tube; intrastaminal nectary disc absent or present; stamens 8-10[-16]; anthers dehiscent by terminal pores or short slits; ovary 5- or 10-locular; placentation axile; style straight. |
Fruits | capsular, dehiscence loculicidal, or baccate or drupaceous, indehiscent. |
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Berries | black or blue, 6–8 mm diam. 2n = 24. |
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Seeds | 2-300, distinct, ovoid or obovoid to ellipsoid, lanceoloid, or conic, to angular or wedge- or crescent-shaped, usually not winged, sometimes slightly winged or tailed. |
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Vaccinium ovatum |
Ericaceae subfam. vaccinioideae |
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Phenology | Flowering early spring-mid summer. | |
Habitat | Edges of coniferous forests, also epiphytic on trunks of redwoods | |
Elevation | 0-30 m (0-100 ft) | |
Distribution |
CA; OR; WA; BC
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Nearly worldwide; especially arctic; temperate; and alpine areas; also very diverse in neotropical cloud forests |
Discussion | Genera 46, species ca. 1600 (12 genera, 58 species in the flora) (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 8, p. 530. | FNA vol. 8, p. 496. |
Parent taxa | Ericaceae > subfam. Vaccinioideae > Vaccinium > sect. Pyxothamnus | Ericaceae |
Sibling taxa | ||
Subordinate taxa | ||
Synonyms | V. ovatum var. saporosum | |
Name authority | Pursh: Fl. Amer. Sept. 1: 290. 1813 , | Arnott: M. Napier, Encycl. Brit. ed. 7 5: 118. (1832) — (as Vaccinieae) |
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