Vaccinium angustifolium

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Lowbush Blueberry
Vaccinium angustifolium, Pancake Bay PP.jpg
Plant Info
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Ericales
Family: Ericaceae
Genus: Vaccinium
Species: V. angustifolium

Binomial name
Vaccinium angustifolium
Aiton

Lowbush Blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium) is a species of blueberry native to eastern and central Canada and the northeastern United States, growing as far south as West Virginia and west to Minnesota and Manitoba.

It is a low spreading deciduous shrub growing to 60 cm tall, though usually 35 cm tall or less.

The leaves are glossy blue-green in summer, turning purple in the fall. The leaf shape is broad to elyptic. Buds are brownish red in stem axels. The flowers are white, bell-shaped, 5 mm long.

The fruit is a small sweet dark blue to black berry. This plant grows best in wooded or open areas with well-drained acidic soils. In some areas it produces natural blueberry barrens, where it is practically the only species covering large areas.

This plant is fire-tolerant and its numbers often increase in an area following a forest fire.

This native plant is also grown commercially in Canada and Maine, mainly harvested from managed wild patches. It is also a favorite of recreational berry pickers, black bears, rodents and birds. The Lowbush Blueberry is the state fruit of Maine.

External links

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