Vaccinium uliginosum subsp. occidentale L. (A. Gray) Hulten
bog blueberry
Ericaceae (Crowberry family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
bog blueberry
Ericaceae (Crowberry family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Photograph
Map
Distribution of Vaccinium uliginosum subsp. occidentale
Click here to view the full interactive map and legend
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.
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.
Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Vaccinium uliginosum ssp. occidentale
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) |
1593 | 190 | 2170 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
19 | 0 | 60 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
181 | 20 | 350 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
2 | 1 | 7 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
C | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
17 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
BAFA | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
AT(2), BAFA(8), CWH(1), IMA(1), SBPS(1), SWB(4) | ||
|
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 salicinum