Vaccinium vitis-idaea

Illustrator: Yevonn Wilson-Ramsey

Copyright: Flora of North America Association

Plants densely colonial, frequently mat-forming; twigs of previous year green, terete, puberulent, not verrucose. Leaf blades pale and glandular abaxially, bright green adaxially, elliptic to obovate, 5–18 × 3–9 mm, glaucous-coriaceous, margins entire, slightly revolute. Pedicels 4–6 mm. Flowers: corolla pinkish white, 3–5 mm; filaments puberulent. Berries red, 8–10 mm diam. 2n = 24.

Phenology: 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
Elevation: 0-1800 m

Distribution

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Greenland, St. Pierre and Miquelon, Alta., B.C., Man., N.B., Nfld. and Labr., N.W.T., N.S., Nunavut, Ont., P.E.I., Que., Sask., Yukon, Alaska, Conn., Maine, Mass., Mich., Minn., N.H., Vt., Wis., n Eurasia, circumboreal.

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.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.