Vaccinium vitis-idaea |
Vaccinium pallidum |
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airelle vigne-d'ida, cowberry, foxberry, lingonberry, mountain cranberry, northern mountain cranberry, partridgeberry |
Blue Ridge blueberry, Blue Ridge or late low-bush blueberry, hillside blueberry, lowbush blueberry |
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Habit | Plants densely colonial, frequently mat-forming; twigs of previous year green, terete, puberulent, not verrucose. | Shrubs, erect, (3–)4–12(–40) dm, rhizomatous, (twigs of previous year not verrucose). |
Leaves | blades pale and glandular abaxially, bright green adaxially, elliptic to obovate, 5–18 × 3–9 mm, glaucous-coriaceous, margins entire, slightly revolute. |
persistent. |
Inflorescences | terminal, racemes, on lateral twigs, on previous year’s shoots or older woody stems. |
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Pedicels | 4–6 mm. |
articulated with calyx tube. |
Flowers | corolla pinkish white, 3–5 mm; filaments puberulent. |
sepals 5; petals 4–5, connate for nearly their entire lengths, corolla cylindric or urceolate; stamens 10, included; anthers ± without awns, tubules 1–1.5 mm, with terminal pores. |
Berries | red, 8–10 mm diam. 2n = 24. |
[4-], 5-, [pseudo 8-, or pseudo 10]-locular. |
Seeds | 10–25, (ca. 1 mm). |
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Vaccinium vitis-idaea |
Vaccinium pallidum |
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Phenology | Flowering late spring–early summer. | Flowering mid-late spring. |
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 | Dry, open oak or oak- hickory woods, open pine woods, ledges, abandoned farmland or cut-over deciduous forests |
Elevation | 0-1800 m (0-5900 ft) | 0-1600 m (0-5200 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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AL; AR; CT; DC; DE; GA; IL; IN; KS; KY; MA; MD; ME; MI; MO; MS; NC; NH; NJ; NY; OH; OK; PA; RI; SC; TN; VA; VT; WI; WV; ON
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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.) |
The flowers of Vaccinium pallidum are visited primarily by Andrena carlini Cockerell and Bombus spp. This species occasionally hybridizes with V. angustifolium, yielding V. ×dobbinii Burnham. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 8, p. 520. | FNA vol. 8, p. 529. |
Parent taxa | Ericaceae > subfam. Vaccinioideae > Vaccinium > sect. Vitis-idaea | Ericaceae > subfam. Vaccinioideae > Vaccinium > sect. Cyanococcus |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | V. vitis-idaea subsp. minus, V. vitis-idaea var. minus | Cyanococcus liparis, Cyanococcus margarettae, Cyanococcus pallidus, Cyanococcus subcordatus, Cyanococcus tallapusae, Cyanococcus vacillans, V. altomontanum, V. corymbosum var. pallidum, V. margarettae, V. vacillans, V. vacillans var. crinitum, V. vacillans var. missouriense, V. viride |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 351. (1753) | Aiton: Hort. Kew. 2: 10. 1789 , |
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