Vaccinium scoparium |
Vaccinium myrtilloides |
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grouse whortleberry, grouseberry, little-leaf huckleberry |
bleuet fausse-myrtille, sour-top blueberry, sourtop, velvet-leaf blueberry, velvetleaf huckleberry |
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Habit | Plants forming extensive colonies, 0.7–2 dm, rhizomatous; twigs green, angled, glabrous; ultimate branches compact, often forming broomlike clumps or tufts. | Plants forming ± open colonies, 1–11.5 dm; twigs greenish brown, terete, pilose or hairy. |
Leaves | blades pale green abaxially, elliptic, lanceolate, or ovate-lanceolate, 7–11 × 4–6 mm, margins finely serrulate, surfaces glabrous. |
deciduous; blade green, elliptic, 23–35 × 8–16 mm, membranous to subcoriaceous, margins entire, surfaces ± densely hairy (sometimes mostly on veins), eglandular, sometimes glabrescent. |
Flowers | calyx pale green, lobes vestigial, glabrous; corolla pink, globose to urceolate, 3–4 × 3–4 mm, thin, glaucous; filaments glabrous. |
calyx green, glabrous, (eglandular); corolla greenish white to pink, urceolate, 3–5 mm, (eglandular); filaments usually hairy. |
Berries | red, ± translucent, or bluish purple, 4–6 mm diam. |
blue, glaucous, 6–8 mm diam., glabrous. |
Seeds | ca. 1 mm. |
10–40, ca. 1 mm. |
2n | = 24. |
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Vaccinium scoparium |
Vaccinium myrtilloides |
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Phenology | Flowering early-mid summer. | Flowering late spring–early summer. |
Habitat | Alpine and subalpine meadows, heaths, talus slopes | Open or disturbed sites in boreal forest, muskegs, bogs, barrens, headlands, outcrops, mountain meadows |
Elevation | 700-3000 m (2300-9800 ft) | 0-1700 m (0-5600 ft) |
Distribution |
CA; CO; ID; MT; NM; NV; OR; SD; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC
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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
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Discussion | The soft, tart, bright red berries of Vaccinium scoparium, to 6 mm diameter, have fair to good flavor and were gathered and eaten raw by the Kootenay, Okanogan, Shuswap, and other Indian tribes. Harvesting was probably done using wooden or fish-bone combs. Small fruit size, low yields, and difficult harvesting make commercial prospects for V. scoparium questionable. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 8, p. 522. | FNA vol. 8, p. 529. |
Parent taxa | Ericaceae > subfam. Vaccinioideae > Vaccinium > sect. Myrtillus | Ericaceae > subfam. Vaccinioideae > Vaccinium > sect. Cyanococcus |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | V. myrtillus var. microphyllum, V. erythrococcum | Cyanococcus canadensis, V. angustifolium var. myrtilloides, V. canadense |
Name authority | Leiberg ex Coville: Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 5: 103. 1897 , | Michaux: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 1: 234. 1803 , |
Web links |
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