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grouse whortleberry, grouseberry, little-leaf huckleberry

bleuet fausse-myrtille, sour-top blueberry, sourtop, velvet-leaf blueberry, velvetleaf huckleberry

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.

Vaccinium scoparium

Vaccinium myrtilloides

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
from FNA
CA; CO; ID; MT; NM; NV; OR; SD; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
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
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
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.)

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
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. 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. myrtillus, V. ovalifolium, V. ovatum, V. oxycoccos, V. pallidum, V. parvifolium, V. scoparium, V. stamineum, V. tenellum, V. uliginosum, V. vitis-idaea
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 ,
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