E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Vaccinium vitis-idaea subsp. minus L. (Lodd.) Hultén
lingonberry (bog blueberry; mountain cranberry; rock cranberry)
Ericaceae (Crowberry family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

© Virginia Skilton  Email the photographer   (Photo ID #7045)

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Distribution of Vaccinium vitis-idaea subsp. minus
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Species Information

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General:
Low, mat-forming shrub; stems decumbent or ascending, 5-25 cm long, rounded or slightly angled, minutely hairy.
Leaves:
Alternate, evergreen, leathery, narrowly elliptic to egg-shaped, 6-15 mm long, 2-9 mm wide, rounded to shallowly notched at tips, shiny green above, pale with brownish or black stalked glands beneath, margins entire to slightly toothed, somewhat rolled under; nearly unstalked.
Flowers:
One to several in short, terminal clusters; flower stalks with 1-2 bracts below the flower, glandular; corollas pinkish, bell-shaped, 4-6 mm long, 4-lobed to the middle; calyces deeply lobed, the lobes persistent in fruit; filaments hairy; anthers awnless, prolonged into long tubes.
Fruits:
Berries, globe-shaped, 6-10 mm wide, bright red; edible but rather acid.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Habitat / Range

Wet to dry forests, and bogs and tundra from lowland to alpine zones; common in N BC, infrequent along the coast, rare in SE BC; circumboreal, N to AK, YT, and NT, E to NF and S to N MN and NH; Eurasia.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Climate

The climate type for this species, as reported in the: "British Columbia plant species codes and selected attributes. Version 6 Database" (Meidinger et al. 2008), is not evaluated, unknown or variable.

Synonyms and Alternate Names

Vaccinium vitis-idaea var. minus Lodd.
Vaccinium vitis-idaea var. punctatum Moench

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links

Additional Photo Sources

General References