68 



HANDBOOK 14 8, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



leaf buds not separate; flowers single, from 

 axil of first (or also of second) leaf (or leaflike 

 bract) on new shoots, white or pink, urn- or 

 globe-shaped; berries red, blue or black, 

 tipped by calyx lobes. 



whortleberries, bilberries, 13 blueberries, 

 and/or "huckleberries" (Vaccinium spp.). 



Grouse whortleberry 



72(11 



13 Dr. W. H. Camp who has made many special studies of blueberries and their 

 relatives, uses "bilberries" as the common name for this group of species. See 

 A Survey of the American Species of Vaccinium, Subgenus Euvaccinium. Brittonia 

 4: 205-247. 1942. 



The name "huckleberry" is often misapplied to species of Vaccinium ; it should 

 be restricted to Gaylussacia. 



The use by the Forest Service and the U. S. Department of Agriculture of 

 "whortleberry" for red- and black-fruited Vaccinium spp. stems from usage by 

 the late Dr. Frederick V. Coville in Standardized Plant Names and Department 

 publications. Dr. Coville long was the foremost American student of this genus 

 and the pioneer in introducing these plants in horticultural improvement and 

 cultivation for their fruits. "Whortleberry" is the common Old World English 

 name for the black-fruited V. myrtillis, to which our V. membranaceum and V. 

 ovalifolium are botanically closely related. 



