Canadian blueberry
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| Vaccinium myrtilloides Michx. |
Canadian Blueberry (Vaccinium myrtilloides) is a species of blueberry native to Canada and the northeastern and northwestern United States, as well as the Great Lakes states. Other common names are Velvetleaf Blueberry, Common Blueberry, Sourtop Blueberry and Velvetleaf Huckleberry. It hybridizes in the wild with the Lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium).
It is a low spreading deciduous shrub growing to 50 cm tall, often in small thickets. The leaves are bright green, paler underneath with velvety hairs. The flowers are white, bell-shaped, 5 mm long. The fruit is a small sweet bright blue to dark blue berry. Young stems have stiff dense bristly hairs. This plant grows best in open coniferous woods with dry loose acidic soils; it is also found in forested bogs and rocky areas. It is fire-tolerant and is often abundant following forest fires or clear-cut logging.
This native plant is also grown commercially in Canada and Maine, mainly harvested from managed wild patches. It is an important food source for black bears, deer, small mammals and birds.
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