Vaccinium uliginosum L.
bog blueberry (bog bilberry)
Ericaceae (Crowberry family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
bog blueberry (bog bilberry)
Ericaceae (Crowberry family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Photograph
© David Blevins (Photo ID #394)
SUBTAXA PRESENT IN BC
Species Information
General:
Low, spreading shrub; stems 10-30 cm tall, not angled; young branches yellowish-green, minutely hairy; old branches greyish-red.
Leaves:
Alternate, deciduous, from broadly egg-shaped to oval or elliptic, 0.4-3 cm long, 0.2-1.5 cm wide, rounded at tips, tapered at base, glabrous or minutely hairy, green above, lower surfaces pale or with slight bloom, strongly net-veined, margins entire, rolled under somewhat.
Flowers:
Clusters of 1-4, in leaf axils; corollas pink, egg- to urn-shaped, 5-6 mm long, 4- to 5-lobed, the lobes curled back; calyces deeply 4- to 5-lobed, persistent on mature fruit; filaments glabrous; anthers awned, the pore-bearing terminal tubes about equaling the pollen sacs.
Fruits:
Berries, globe-shaped, 5-8 mm wide, blue, with a bloom; edible and sweet.
Notes:
Two subspecies are recognized in BC:
1. Leaves hairy................. ssp. pubescens (Wormsk. ex Hornem.) S.B. Young
1. Leaves glabrous or minutely hairy........................ ssp. occidentale (A. Gray) Hult.
USDA Species Characteristics
Flower Colour:
Purple
Blooming Period:
Early Summer
Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: Blue
Present over the Summer
Source: The USDA
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Vaccinium uliginosum
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)
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) |
940 | 6 | 2205 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
16 | 0 | 120 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
333 | 0 | 360 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
4 | 0 | 8 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
B | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
501 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
CWH | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
AT(2), BAFA(90), BWBS(74), CDF(2), CMA(13), CWH(142), ESSF(13), IMA(3), MH(63), SBS(7), SWB(79) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Bogs, dry to wet rocky tundra, meadows, thickets and boggy forests in the lowland to alpine zones; frequent in coastal BC (ssp. occidentale), and in N BC (ssp. pubescens); circumboreal, N to AK, YT, and NT, E to NF and S to N MI, NY, and N CA; Eurasia.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Vaccinium occidentale A. Gray
Vaccinium uliginosum subsp. alpinum (Bigelow) Hultén
Vaccinium uliginosum subsp. gaultherioides (Bigelow) S.B. Young
Vaccinium uliginosum subsp. microphyllum Lange
Vaccinium uliginosum subsp. occidentale (A. Gray) Hultén
Vaccinium uliginosum subsp. pedris (HarshA. Berger) S.B. Young
Vaccinium uliginosum subsp. pubescens (Wormsk. ex Hornem.) S.B. Young
Vaccinium uliginosum var. alpinum Bigelow
Vaccinium uliginosum var. occidentale (A. Gray) H. Hara
Vaccinium uliginosum var. salicinum (Cham.) Hultén