Vaccinium ovalifolium

Vaccinium ovalifolium (commonly known as Alaska blueberry, early blueberry, oval-leaf bilberry, oval-leaf blueberry, and oval-leaf huckleberry)[2] is a plant in the heath family with three varieties, all of which grow in northerly regions (e.g. the subarctic).[2]

Vaccinium ovalifolium
Mount Baker–Snoqualmie National Forest, Washington

Secure  (NatureServe)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Ericales
Family: Ericaceae
Genus: Vaccinium
Section: Vaccinium sect. Myrtillus
Species:
V. ovalifolium
Binomial name
Vaccinium ovalifolium
Varieties[2][3][4][5]
  • V. o. var. alpinum (Tatew.) T.Yamaz.
  • V. o. var. ovalifolium (autonym)
  • V. o. var. sachalinense T.Yamaz.
Synonyms[2][3][4]
Synonymy
  • V. alaskaense Howell
  • V. axillare Nakai
  • V. chamissonis Bong.
  • V. c. var. alpinum Tatew. [≡V. o. var. alpinum]
  • V. o. var. coriaceum Boiss. [≡V. o. var. ovalifolium]

Growth
Older bark is greyish, but twigs are brown, yellow or reddish.

V. ovalifolium is a spreading shrub which may grow to 5 feet (1.5 m) tall. It has pink, 1⁄4 in (0.64 cm), urn-shaped flowers. Berries are dark blue, often black, sometimes with a waxy coating.[6][7]

Distribution

The original variety (i.e. the automatically named V. o. var. ovalifolium) is found on both the eastern and western sides of the Pacific Ocean. In North America, it is distributed throughout Canada (Alberta, British Columbia, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, southern Ontario, southeast Quebec, and southern Yukon) and the United States (southern Alaska, Idaho, northern Michigan, Oregon, western South Dakota, and Washington).[2][8] In Asia, it is distributed throughout Russia (Kamchatka, the southern Kuril Islands, Primorsky Krai, and Sakhalin) and Japan (Hokkaido and central and northern Honshu).[2]

The two other varieties are confined to Japan and Russia:

Uses

V. ovalifolium is used in jams and jellies and for making liqueur. Blueberry herbal tea can be made from the leaves, or from the juice of the blueberries themselves.[6]

V. ovalifolium has been used in Russia in the making of dyes, including the use of its tannin.[2]

In the winter, V. ovalifolium is an important food source for grazing deer, goats, and elk, and in the summer the nectar feeds hummingbirds.[6]

References
  1. "Vaccinium ovalifolium | NatureServe Explorer". NatureServe. 2016-05-13. Archived from the original on 2023-05-23. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
  2. "Vaccinium ovalifolium". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 2012-11-10.
  3. "Vaccinium ovalifolium var. alpinum". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 2012-11-10.
  4. "Vaccinium ovalifolium var. ovalifolium". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 2012-11-10.
  5. "Vaccinium ovalifolium var. sachalinense". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 2012-11-10.
  6. Ewing, Susan (1996). The Great Alaska Nature Factbook. Portland, Oregon: Alaska Northwest Books. ISBN 0-88240-454-7.
  7. Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.). "Vaccinium ovalifolium". Flora of North America North of Mexico (FNA). New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press – via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
  8. "Vaccinium ovalifolium" (PNG). The Biota of North America Program (Distribution map). 2014. Archived from the original on 2015-07-24.
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