Vaccinium stamineum - (image 1 of 5)
Taxonomy
Family: Ericaceae
Habitat
Cliffs, ledges, dry forests and woodlands.
Associates
Distribution
ME to IN and MO, south to FL, TX, and Mexico.
Morphology
Deciduous shrub to 1.5 m, glabrous to densely hairy; Leaves oblong or elliptic to obovate, to 10 cm long, acute or acuminate, entire; flowers in racemes or panicles; corolla campanulate, open even in bud, greenish-white or purple-tinged, 4-6 mm, 5-lobed nearly to the middle; stamens exsert; fruit yellowish or greenish to green-blue, to 1 cm.
Notes
Flowers May to June.
Wetland indicator: FACU
Unlike most other blueberries, the relatively large fruit of this species is rather unpalatable in that that never seem to fully ripen. The anthers bear a pair of spurs in addition to the terminal tubules.
References
Gleason, Henry A. and A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. Second Ed.
The New York Botanical Garden. Bronx, NY
USDA, NRCS. 2002. The PLANTS Database, Version 3.5 (http://plants.usda.gov).
National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.
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Michael Hough © 2018 |