Vaccinium uliginosum |
Vaccinium parvifolium |
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airelle des marécages, alpine blueberry, blueberry, bog bilberry, bog blueberry |
red huckleberry |
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Habit | Plants forming dense mats or open, extensive colonies; twigs of current season pale green, terete, glabrous or faintly puberulent, not verrucose. | Plants crown-forming, sometimes suckering when injured, 10–70 dm, not rhizomatous; twigs of current season green, sharply angled, glabrous or minutely puberulent in lines; (short lateral branches on both orthotropic and plagiotropic shoots often divaricate to 75° giving shrub a distinct fasciculate aspect). |
Leaf | 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 dark green, ovate to oblong-elliptic, 13–25 × 8–14 mm, margins entire, surfaces puberulent or glabrous abaxially, glabrous adaxially. |
Flowers | sepals usually distinct; corolla white to pink, 3–4(–5) mm, lobes 0.3–0.4 mm; filaments glabrous. |
calyx pale green, lobes spreading, distinct, broadly ovate, 0.4–0.6 mm, glabrous; corolla pink, bronze, or yellowish green, globose to urceolate, 4–6 × 3–5 mm, thin, glaucous; filaments glabrous. |
Berries | blue, 6–8 mm diam., glaucous. |
red, sometimes faintly glaucous, translucent, 7–10 mm diam. |
Seeds | ca. 1 mm. |
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2n | = 24, 48, 72. |
= 24. |
Vaccinium uliginosum |
Vaccinium parvifolium |
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Phenology | Flowering Jun–Jul. | Flowering spring–summer. |
Habitat | Wet or dry acidic sites in boreal taiga, tundras, and alpine thickets and krummholz | Coniferous woods, often on stumps and logs, disturbed areas |
Elevation | 0-2200 m (0-7200 ft) | 0-1100 m (0-3600 ft) |
Distribution |
AK; CA; ID; ME; MI; MN; MT; NH; NV; NY; OR; UT; VT; WA; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NF; NS; NT; NU; ON; PE; QC; SK; YT; SPM; Greenland; n Eurasia
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AK; CA; OR; WA; BC
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Discussion | 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.) |
The red, waxy fruits of Vaccinium parvifolium were popular with all coastal Indian tribes and remain so with recreational pickers. The berries are somewhat sour but make excellent pastries and preserves. Commercial use of V. parvifolium is limited; vigorous growth, ease of harvest, and site adaptability provide opportunities. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 8, p. 518. | FNA vol. 8, p. 522. |
Parent taxa | Ericaceae > subfam. Vaccinioideae > Vaccinium > sect. Vaccinium | Ericaceae > subfam. Vaccinioideae > Vaccinium > sect. Myrtillus |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | V. gaultherioides, V. occidentale, V. uliginosum subsp. alpinum, V. uliginosum var. alpinum, V. uliginosum subsp. gaultherioides, V. uliginosum subsp. microphyllum, V. uliginosum subsp. occidentale, V. uliginosum var. occidentale, V. uliginosum subsp. pedris, V. uliginosum subsp. pubescens, V. uliginosum var. salicinum | |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 350. 1753 , | Smith: in A. Rees, Cycl. 36: Vaccinium no. 3. 1817 , |
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