Vaccinium vitis-idaea |
Vaccinium deliciosum |
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airelle vigne-d'ida, cowberry, foxberry, lingonberry, mountain cranberry, northern mountain cranberry, partridgeberry |
blue-leaf huckleberry, Cascade bilberry, Cascade blueberry, Cascade huckleberry, Cascades blueberry, Rainier blueberry |
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Habit | Plants densely colonial, frequently mat-forming; twigs of previous year green, terete, puberulent, not verrucose. | 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. |
Leaf | blades pale and glandular abaxially, bright green adaxially, elliptic to obovate, 5–18 × 3–9 mm, glaucous-coriaceous, margins entire, slightly revolute. |
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. |
Pedicels | 4–6 mm. |
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Flowers | corolla pinkish white, 3–5 mm; filaments puberulent. |
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 | red, 8–10 mm diam. 2n = 24. |
usually blue, glaucous, sometimes dull black, maroon, or red, 9–13 mm diam. |
Seeds | ca. 1 mm. |
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2n | = 48. |
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Vaccinium vitis-idaea |
Vaccinium deliciosum |
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Phenology | Flowering late spring–early summer. | Flowering late spring–early summer. |
Habitat | Boreal taiga in jack-pine stands, muskegs, raised bogs, dry, rocky barrens, lichen woodlands, exposed habitats, heaths, high moors, headlands, tundras, cliffs, mountain summits | Alpine meadows, subalpine coniferous woods, talus slopes |
Elevation | 0-1800 m (0-5900 ft) | 600-2000 m (2000-6600 ft) |
Distribution |
AK; CT; MA; ME; MI; MN; NH; VT; WI; AB; BC; MB; NB; NL; NS; NT; NU; ON; PE; QC; SK; YT; SPM; Greenland; n Eurasia; circumboreal
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CA; ID; OR; WA; BC
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Discussion | The distribution of Vaccinium vitis-idaea in North America extends from northwestern Greenland at 77° north latitude, south to Connecticut at 42° north latitude, and from 45° west longitude (southern tip of Greenland) west to 170° west longitude (Aleutian Islands); it is rare in Connecticut (not collected since the late 1800s), Massachusetts, Vermont, and Wisconsin. This species has been erroneously reported from New York; it hybridizes with V. myrtillus in northern Europe, producing V. ×intermedium Ruthe. The hybrid might be anticipated in North America, but the two species are not known to occur together anywhere in the flora area. (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.) |
Source | FNA vol. 8, p. 520. | FNA vol. 8, p. 523. |
Parent taxa | Ericaceae > subfam. Vaccinioideae > Vaccinium > sect. Vitis-idaea | Ericaceae > subfam. Vaccinioideae > Vaccinium > sect. Myrtillus |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | V. vitis-idaea subsp. minus, V. vitis-idaea var. minus | |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 351. (1753) | Piper: Mazama 2: 103. 1901 , |
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