Flora of Oregon

Shrubs,

subshrubs, or

vines evergreen or deciduous.

Stems erect, ascending, spreading or creeping, glabrous, puberulent or hairy.

Leaves alternate, simple, margins entire or serrate, plane or revolute, surfaces glabrous to glaucous or puberulent; petioles absent or present.

Inflorescences axillary, racemes or solitary, 1–10-flowered; bracteoles present or absent.

Flowers sepals 4–5, 67% to fully fused; corollas globose to urceolate, petals 4–5, 67% to fully fused, white to red; stamens 8–10, included, filaments flat, straight, glabrous or hairy, anthers awned or awnless, dehiscent by pores; ovaries inferior, styles usually surpassing stamens.

Fruits berries, ovoid to globose, red to black, fleshy.

Seeds 2–40.

Temperate areas and tropical mountains in Asia, Europe, North America, and South America. ~450 species; 11 species treated in Flora.

Many Vaccinium keys rely, often heavily, on fruit characters. This unfortunately relegates the observer to identifying plants during one, often short, life stage. Furthermore, most herbarium specimens are lacking fruits. As such, presented here is a key based almost entirely on vegetative characters. Vaccinium corymbosum (high-bush blueberry), a popular cultivar, has been reported to have escaped and established a small population in Eugene (Lane County). If persisting or found elsewhere, the species is distinguished from our other Vaccinium by a combination of its tall growth habit (1–5 m), large leaves (15–70 × 10–25 mm) and fruits with a bloom.

Flora of North America

as described under Vaccinium

Subshrubs, shrubs, vines, or trees. Stems erect, spreading, or creeping, glabrous or hairy. Leaves persistent or deciduous; petiole absent or present; blade elliptic or ovate to oblong-lanceolate or spatulate, membranous to coriaceous, margins entire or serrate, plane or, sometimes, revolute, surfaces glabrous or hairy; venation brochidodromous. Inflorescences axillary or terminal, racemes, usually 2-10-flowered, sometimes flowers solitary, (leafy); (bracteoles absent, present in sect. Oxycoccos). Flowers: sepals 4-5, connate basally; petals 4-5(-6), connate nearly their entire lengths, sometimes distinct or nearly so, white or cream to pink, bronze, or green, rarely red, corolla globose, cylindric, urceolate, or campanulate, lobes shorter to longer than tube; filaments straight, flat, glabrous or hairy, without spurs; stamens 8-10, included (sometimes exserted); anthers with or without awns, dehiscent by pores (pores laciniate in sect. Polycodium); pistil 4-5-carpellate; ovary inferior, 4-5-locular or pseudo 10-locular; stigma capitate. Fruits baccate, ovoid to globose, fleshy. Seeds 2-40, ellipsoid; testa reticulate. x = 12.The North American species of Vaccinium are distributed among ten sections. Some of these (e.g., Oxycoccus, Polycodium) have been treated as genera by recent authors, although only Oxycoccus has been recognized at genus rank widely among North American authors. Molecular data support the idea that Vaccinium is a natural genus, albeit large and diverse, provided that Oxycoccus is included.In eastern North America, the name huckleberry is applied to species of Gaylussacia, while in western North America some species of Vaccinium are called huckleberries. Most, if not all, species of Vaccinium are edible, finding wide acceptance as fresh fruits, and for pies, preserves, etc. Some have medicinal value, especially V. macrocarpon for urinary problems. Further uses and references are noted with the individual species.