Vaccinium corymbosum L.

• Authority

  Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

• Family

  Ericaceae

• Scientific Name

  Vaccinium corymbosum L.

• Description

  Species Description - Crown-forming shrubs (0.5)1–3(–5) m; lvs ovate to narrowly elliptic, deciduous, 3–8 × 1.5–4 cm, variously serrulate or often entire, hairy (rarely glandular) or glabrous and sometimes glaucous; cor white or greenish-white to pink, cylindric to urceolate cylindric, 5–10 mm; fr blue-glaucous to black, 5–12 mm; 2n=24, 48, 72, ours mostly 48. Open swamps and bogs, or sometimes in upland woods or in old fields, from the coastal plain to the mt.-tops; Me. and N.S. to Fla., w. to Mich., n. Ill., Ky., Ark., e. Okla., and e. Tex. Apr.–July. (V. atrococcum; V. australe; V. caesariense; V. constablaei; V. marianum; V. simulatum; Cyanococcus atrococcus; C. margarettae; C. s.) Highly variable, not readily sorted into recognizable taxa. V. caesariense Mack., a diploid with glabrous, glaucous, entire lvs, glabrous or subglabrous twigs, and blue-glaucous fr, is ± distinguishable from the variable remainder of the group, diploid or often polyploid, with variously entire or serrulate, glabrous or hairy lvs and twigs, and blue or often black fr.

• Common Names

  highbush blueberry