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. membranaceum Hook.

THINLEAF HUCKLEBERRY

Shrub, ± glabrous; rhizome generally 0
Stem erect, generally 5–15 dm, not rooting; twigs weakly angled, yellowish green
Leaves deciduous, 2–5 cm; blade generally ovate to elliptic or obovate, very thin, membranous, serrate, teeth generally with a gland-tipped hair, base often rounded to truncate, tip acute, lower surface with prominent veins
Inflorescence: flowers solitary in axils of lowest leaves of youngest shoots; bractlets 2, scale-like; pedicels not jointed to flower
Flower: calyx lobes ± 0; corolla < 6 mm, cylindric to urn-shaped, pinkish; anthers awned
Fruit 9–11 mm diam, generally black (dark red)
Ecology: Wet meadows, mtn slopes
Elevation: 1100–2200 m.
Bioregional distribution: Klamath Ranges, High North Coast Ranges, n High Sierra Nevada, Warner Mountains
Distribution outside California: to Alaska, South Dakota
Study needed of V. coccineum Piper (Siskiyou Mountains huckleberry), a sporadic red-fruited form not treated by Vander Kloet
Horticultural information: WET: 1, 2, 4, 5, 6; acidic soil; DFCLT.