Vaccinium vitis-idaea
Vaccinium uliginosum
airelle vigne-d'ida, cowberry, foxberry, lingonberry, mountain cranberry, northern mountain cranberry, partridgeberry
airelle des marécages, alpine blueberry, blueberry, bog bilberry, bog blueberry
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 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.
4–6 mm.
corolla pinkish white, 3–5 mm;
filaments puberulent.
sepals usually distinct;
corolla white to pink, 3–4(–5) mm, lobes 0.3–0.4 mm;
filaments glabrous.
red, 8–10 mm diam. 2n = 24.
blue, 6–8 mm diam., glaucous.
= 24, 48, 72.
Vaccinium vitis-idaea
Vaccinium uliginosum
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 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.)
BC
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MI Flora
MN Wildflowers
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
OR
WA
CalFlora
Flora NW
