Vaccinium uliginosum
Vaccinium deliciosum
airelle des marécages, alpine blueberry, blueberry, bog bilberry, bog blueberry
blue-leaf huckleberry, Cascade bilberry, Cascade blueberry, Cascade huckleberry, Cascades blueberry, Rainier blueberry
blades usually glaucous abaxially, green to glaucous adaxially, orbiculate, ovate, or obovate to narrowly elliptic, 8–14 × 3–7 mm, membranous, margins entire, surfaces often faintly puberulent, sometimes hairy throughout.
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.
sepals usually distinct;
corolla white to pink, 3–4(–5) mm, lobes 0.3–0.4 mm;
filaments glabrous.
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.
blue, 6–8 mm diam., glaucous.
usually blue, glaucous, sometimes dull black, maroon, or red, 9–13 mm diam.
ca. 1 mm.
= 24, 48, 72.
= 48.
Vaccinium uliginosum
Vaccinium deliciosum
Vaccinium uliginosum is transcontinental in North America between 60° and 70° north latitude; farther north it is rare, especially in the Queen Elizabeth Islands. To the southwest, it is found as far as northern California and northwestern Utah. The summits of the White Mountains of New Hampshire form its southernmost limit in eastern North America. This wide-ranging plant shows considerable variation, notably in floral morphology. Subspecies have been recognized (cf. S. B. Young 1970); a review of morphological variation by H. J. Warr (1981) did not support the distinctiveness of infraspecific taxa.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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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