Vaccinium tenellum |
Vaccinium deliciosum |
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small black blueberry, southern blueberry |
blue-leaf huckleberry, Cascade bilberry, Cascade blueberry, Cascade huckleberry, Cascades blueberry, Rainier blueberry |
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Habit | Plants forming extensive, open colonies, 1–7.5 dm; twigs yellowish green, ± terete, hairy. | Plants forming small clumps to extensive open colonies, 0.5–15 dm, rhizomatous; twigs green, sometimes glaucous, ± terete, rarely angled, usually glabrous, rarely hairy along veins or puberulent. |
Leaves | deciduous, rarely persistent; blade green, spatulate to elliptic, 13–40 × 3–17 mm, subcoriaceous, margins sharply to obscurely serrate, surfaces glandular abaxially, hairy especially when young, rarely glabrous. |
blades usually glaucous, obovate, oblanceolate, or, rarely, elliptic, 17–35 × 9–17 mm, margins usually serrate for at least distal 2/3, surfaces usually glabrous, eglandular or, rarely, glandular throughout, often glandular-hairy along midvein. |
Flowers | calyx pale green, sometimes hairy; corolla usually white tinged with pink, cylindric, 5–9 mm; filaments ± hairy. |
calyx glaucous, lobes indistinct or shallow, glabrous; corolla pink, creamy pink, or red, globose to globular-urceolate, 4–6 × 5–7 mm, thin, glaucous; filaments glabrous. |
Berries | black, 6–8 mm diam., sometimes puberulent. |
usually blue, glaucous, sometimes dull black, maroon, or red, 9–13 mm diam. |
Seeds | 5–25, ca. 1 mm. |
ca. 1 mm. |
2n | = 24. |
= 48. |
Vaccinium tenellum |
Vaccinium deliciosum |
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Phenology | Flowering winter–spring. | Flowering late spring–early summer. |
Habitat | Dry sand hills, pine barrens, scrubby oak woods, open pine parkland, and flatwoods subject to burning | Alpine meadows, subalpine coniferous woods, talus slopes |
Elevation | 0-200 m (0-700 ft) | 600-2000 m (2000-6600 ft) |
Distribution |
AL; FL; GA; MS; NC; SC; VA
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CA; ID; OR; WA; BC
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Discussion | Vaccinium deliciosum produces especially flavorful berries. Research at the University of Idaho and Washington State University identified 31 aromatic flavor compounds in the fruits. Despite its outstanding flavor and large fruit size, it is harvested less than is V. membranaceum because it has a smaller range and is less abundant there than its black-fruited congener. Also, like V. membranaceum, V. deliciosum is native at higher elevations and can be difficult to grow at low elevations. Although rhizomatous, V. deliciosum has a dense root system and transplants easily. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 8, p. 528. | FNA vol. 8, p. 523. |
Parent taxa | Ericaceae > subfam. Vaccinioideae > Vaccinium > sect. Cyanococcus | Ericaceae > subfam. Vaccinioideae > Vaccinium > sect. Myrtillus |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Cyanococcus tenellus | |
Name authority | Aiton: Hort. Kew. 2: 12. 1789 , | Piper: Mazama 2: 103. 1901 , |
Web links |
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