392 CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL HERBARIUM. 



66. VACCINIACEAE. Blueberry Family. 



1. VACCINITJM T.. 



Slender shrubs; leaves alternate, deciduous, finely toothed or entire; flowers 

 solitary in the leaf axils or in racemes; calyx lobes 4 or 5; corolla urn-shaped or bell- 

 shaped, with 5 or 4 short lobes; stamens 10 or 8, the anthers usually with 2 awns on 

 the back; fruit juicy, with small seeds. — -The name huckleberry is often applied to 

 plants of this genus (generally in the Rocky Mountains), but that name is better 

 reserved for species of the genus Gaylussacia, none of which are found in the West. 

 Leaves very hairy, especially beneath; flowers in short racemes; anthers without 



awns; leaves entire 1. V. canadense. 



Leaves glabrous; flowers solitary in the leaf axils; anthers with 2 awns on the back; 

 leaves finely toothed. 

 Leaves obovate or oblanceolate, obtuse; young branches reddish or brownish, not 



angled 2. V. caespitosum. 



Leaves lanceolate to ovate, rarely obovate but then acute; young branches green, 

 angled . 

 Leaves mostly 3 to 6 cm. long; plants usually 0.6 to 1 meter high. 



3. V. membranaceum. 

 Leaves 2.5 cm. long or usually much shorter; plants 15 to 40 cm. high. 

 Fruit blue or bluish black; leaves broadly ovate or rounded-ovate; plants 



loosely branched 4. V. myrtillus. 



Fruit wine-red; leaves lanceolate or lance-ovate; plants with dense erect 

 branches 5. V. scoparium. 



1. Vacciniuni canadense Richards. Canada blueberry. Rather common in dense 

 flat-woods about Belton. Mont, to 111., N. J., and Newf. (Cyanococciis canadensis 

 Rydb.) — Slender shrub, 30 to 60 cm. high; leaves lanceolate or ovate, 2 to 4 cm. 

 long, acute; corolla white or pinkish, 4 mm. long; fruit about 5 mm. in diameter, 

 black, with a dense pale bloom. 



This is apparently the most western station known for the species. The fruit is 

 sweet and rather insipid . 



2. Vaccinium caespitosum Michx. Common at low altitudes, rarely found at 

 middle elevations, mostly on dry open slopes or even on prairie or in thin woods, 

 occasionally in deep moist woods. B. C. to Colo., N. H., and Lab. — Densely branched 

 shrub, 10 to 40 cm. high; leaves 2 to 5 cm. long, finely toothed, wedge-shaped at the 

 base; corolla white or pink, 4 to 5 mm. long; fruit at first wine-red, becoming dark 

 blue, with a pale bloom. 



The fruit is sweet and insipid; it is too small and not sufficiently abundant to be 

 edible. In 1919 very few of the plants bore fruit. The plants often form dense 

 carpets on open slopes, and they are conspicuous in late summer when the leaves 

 turn red or purplish. Rydberg states that the plant is alpine or subalpine, and while 

 this is true in some regions, it is far from being the case in Glacier Park. Here the 

 plant grows in the Transition and in the lower part of the Canadian Zone. 



3. Vaccinium membranaceum Dougl. Tall whortleberry. Common and often 

 abundant at middle altitudes and about timber line, in thin or dense woods, some- 

 times on open slopes. B. C. to Calif., Wyo., and Mich. ( V. globulare Rydb.)^Much- 

 branched shrub, usually about 60 cm. high; leaves thin, nearly sessile, finely toothed, 

 acute or obtuse; flowers slender-stalked; corolla 5 to 6 mm. long, white or pale pink, 

 fruit commonly 8 to 10 mm. in diameter. 



This is the only whortleberry of the region whose fruit is of importance; in many 

 places the plants are abundant and the fruit can be gathered in quantity. The fruit 

 is of excellent quality; indeed it is doubtful if it is surpassed by that of any other 

 species. It is rather tart and very juicy and the seeds are so small as to be negligible. 



