Flora of North America species comparison

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Vaccinium ovatum

Vaccinium vitis-idaea

California huckleberry, evergreen huckelberry, evergreen huckleberry, winter huckleberry

airelle vigne-d'ida, cowberry, foxberry, lingonberry, mountain cranberry, northern mountain cranberry, partridgeberry
Habit Plants clump- or crown-forming; twigs ± terete, pilose. Plants densely colonial, frequently mat-forming; twigs of previous year green, terete, puberulent, not verrucose.
Leaf

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

blades pale and glandular abaxially, bright green adaxially, elliptic to obovate, 5–18 × 3–9 mm, glaucous-coriaceous, margins entire, slightly revolute.
Pedicels

4–6 mm.
Flowers

corolla pinkish, 3–5 mm;

filaments hairy.

corolla pinkish white, 3–5 mm;

filaments puberulent.
Berries

black or blue, 6–8 mm diam. 2n = 24.

red, 8–10 mm diam. 2n = 24.

Vaccinium ovatum

Vaccinium vitis-idaea
Phenology Flowering early spring-mid summer. Flowering late spring–early summer.
Habitat Edges of coniferous forests, also epiphytic on trunks of redwoods Boreal taiga in jack-pine stands, muskegs, raised bogs, dry, rocky barrens, lichen woodlands, exposed habitats, heaths, high moors, headlands, tundras, cliffs, mountain summits
Elevation 0-30 m (0-100 ft) 0-1800 m (0-5900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; OR; WA; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AK; CT; MA; ME; MI; MN; NH; VT; WI; AB; BC; MB; NB; NL; NS; NT; NU; ON; PE; QC; SK; YT; SPM; Greenland; n Eurasia; circumboreal
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

The distribution of Vaccinium vitis-idaea in North America extends from northwestern Greenland at 77° north latitude, south to Connecticut at 42° north latitude, and from 45° west longitude (southern tip of Greenland) west to 170° west longitude (Aleutian Islands); it is rare in Connecticut (not collected since the late 1800s), Massachusetts, Vermont, and Wisconsin. This species has been erroneously reported from New York; it hybridizes with V. myrtillus in northern Europe, producing V. ×intermedium Ruthe. The hybrid might be anticipated in North America, but the two species are not known to occur together anywhere in the flora area.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 8, p. 530. FNA vol. 8, p. 520.
Parent taxa Ericaceae > subfam. Vaccinioideae > Vaccinium > sect. Pyxothamnus Ericaceae > subfam. Vaccinioideae > Vaccinium > sect. Vitis-idaea
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. myrtillus, V. ovalifolium, 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. uliginosum
Synonyms V. ovatum var. saporosum V. vitis-idaea subsp. minus, V. vitis-idaea var. minus
Name authority Pursh: Fl. Amer. Sept. 1: 290. 1813 , Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 351. (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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