TREATMENT FROM THE JEPSON MANUAL	previous taxon | next taxon Jepson Interchange (more information)
	©Copyright 1993 by the Regents of the University of California Print edition is available from the University of California Press

	The second edition of The Jepson Manual (2012) is available from the University of California Press
	See also the Jepson eFlora, which parallels the Second Edition

ERICACEAE

HEATH FAMILY

Gary D. Wallace, except as specified

Perennial, shrub, tree
Stem: bark often peeling distinctively
Leaves simple, generally cauline, alternate, opposite, rarely whorled, evergreen or deciduous, often leathery, petioled or not; stipules 0
Inflorescence: raceme, panicle, cyme, or flowers solitary, generally bracted; pedicels often with 2 bractlets
Flower generally bisexual, generally radial; sepals generally 4–5, generally free; petals generally 4–5, free or fused; stamens 8–10, free, filaments rarely appendaged, anthers awned or not, dehiscent by pores or slits; nectary generally at ovary base, disk-like; ovary superior or inferior, chambers generally 1–5, placentas axile or parietal, ovules 1–many per chamber, style 1, stigma head- to funnel-like or lobed
Fruit: capsule, drupe, berry
Seeds generally many, sometimes winged
Genera in family: ± 100 genera, 3000 species: generally worldwide except deserts; some cultivated, especially Arbutus, Arctostaphylos, Rhododendron, Vaccinium
Reference: [Wallace 1975 Wasmann J Biol 33:1–88; 1975 Bot Not 128:286–298]
Subfamilies Monotropoideae, Pyroloideae, Vaccinioideae sometimes treated as families. Nongreen plants obtain nutrition from green plants through fungal intermediates.

VACCINIUM

BLUEBERRY, HUCKLEBERRY, CRANBERRY

Shrub, tree, glabrous to hairy, rhizomed or not; burls generally 0
Stem trailing to erect
Leaves alternate
Inflorescence: raceme or flowers solitary, bracted; bud scales present; bractlets generally 2
Flower: sepals 4–5, 2/3 to fully fused (lobes then 0); petals generally 4–5, ± 2/3 fused, cylindric to urn- or cup-shaped, generally white; stamens 8 or 10, filaments generally glabrous, anthers elongate, dehiscent by pores on small tubes, awned or not; ovary inferior, chambers 4–5 (or appearing 10 by intrusion of ovary wall), placentas axile, stigma head-like
Fruit: berry
Seeds generally many
Species in genus: 400+ species: temp n hemisphere, tropical mtns, Africa
Etymology: (Latin: for V. myrtillus L.)
[Vander Kloet 1988 The genus Vaccinium in North America]

Native

V. caespitosum Michx.

DWARF BILBERRY

Shrub, generally hairy, rhizomed
Stem prostrate to erect, < 5 dm, generally rooting; twigs not or weakly angled, greenish, youngest generally puberulent or glandular
Leaves deciduous, generally 1–3 cm; blade generally oblong or obovate to elliptic, generally thin, not membranous, minutely serrate, base tapered, tip seldom acute, lower surface generally glandular
Inflorescence: flowers solitary in axils of lowest leaves of youngest shoots; bractlets 0; pedicels not jointed to flower
Flower: calyx lobes ± 0; corolla < 6 mm, whitish to pinkish, narrowly urn-shaped; anthers awned
Fruit < 9 mm wide, generally blue-glaucous
Chromosomes: 2n=24
Ecology: Margins of wet meadows, mtn slopes
Elevation: < 3400 m.
Bioregional distribution: North Coast, Klamath Ranges, Outer North Coast Ranges, High North Coast Ranges, High Cascade Range, High Sierra Nevada, Central Coast, San Francisco Bay Area, Warner Mountains
Distribution outside California: to Alaska, Montana, also ne US and adjacent Canada
Synonyms: V. arbuscula (A. Gray) Merriam; V. nivictum Camp
Horticultural information: WET or IRR: 1, 2, 4, 5, 17 &SHD: 6, 14, 15, 16; acidic soil; DFCLT; GRCVR.