Vaccinium elliottii

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Vaccinium elliottii
Plant in flower
Plant in flower
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Ericales
Family: Ericaceae
Genus: Vaccinium
Species: V. elliotti
Binomial name
Vaccinium elliottii
Chapm.

Vaccinum elliottii (Elliott's Blueberry) is a species of Vaccinium in the blueberry group (Vaccinium sect. Cyanococcus). It is native to the southeastern United States, from southeastern Virginia south to Florida, and west to Arkansas and Texas.

Leaves
Leaves

It is a deciduous shrub 2-4 m tall, with small, simple ovoid-acute leaves 15-30 mm long with a finely serrated margin. The flowers are pale pink, bell-shaped, 6-8 mm long, opening in the early spring before the new leaves appear. The fruit is an edible berry 5-8 mm diameter, blue-black, only rarely with a whitish waxy bloom; they ripen from late spring (in Florida) through summer.

[edit] Cultivation and uses

It produces a particularly large yield of somewhat sour berries. It is popular for late-season fruit.

[edit] References

An unripe Elliott's blueberry. The actual berry is at the bottom of the picture.
An unripe Elliott's blueberry. The actual berry is at the bottom of the picture.