Vaccinium scoparium Leiberg ex Coville
grouseberry (grouse whortleberry)
Ericaceae (Crowberry family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

Photograph

© Paul Dawson     (Photo ID #87013)

Map

E-Flora BC Static Map

Distribution of Vaccinium scoparium
Click here to view the full interactive map and legend

Species Information

General:
Matted, low shrub; stems 10-25 cm tall, many, slender, broomlike, strongly angled, greenish or yellowish-green, glabrous.
Leaves:
Alternate, deciduous, lance-egg-shaped to oval, to 12 mm long, tips pointed to sharp-pointed, bases rounded to wedge-shaped, light-green, finely toothed, glabrous, shiny above, dull and conspicuously veined below.
Flowers:
Solitary in leaf axils; flower stalks 2-2.5 mm long, nodding; corollas pinkish, narrowly urn-shaped, about 4 mm long; calyces very shallowly lobed, almost obsolete; filaments glabrous; anthers awned, the pore-bearing terminal tubes about equal to the pollen sacs.
Fruits:
Berries, globe-shaped, 3-5 mm wide, bright red; edible and sweet.

Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Illustration

If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.

USDA Species Characteristics

Flower Colour:
Red
Blooming Period:
Early Summer
Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: Red
Present from Summer to Fall
Source:  The USDA

Ecology

Ecological Framework for Vaccinium scoparium

The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)

Site Information
 Value / Class

Avg

Min

Max
Elevation (metres)
 1652 6 2619
Slope Gradient (%)
 23 0 420

Aspect (degrees)
[0 - N; 90 - E; 180 - S; 270 - W]

 227 0 360
Soil Moisture Regime (SMR)
[0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic;
8 - hydric] 		3 0 8
Modal Nutrient Regime
Class
 C
# of field plots
 species was recorded in:
 4547
Modal BEC Zone Class
 ESSF

All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in

 AT(85), BAFA(3), BWBS(22), CWH(34), ESSF(2435), ICH(257), IDF(142), IMA(12), MS(1164), PP(2), SBPS(20), SBS(46), SWB(4)

Habitat and Range

Dry to moist forests and openings in the montane and subalpine zones; common in SE and SC BC; E to SW AB, and S to N CA, CO, and SD.

Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

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