Hillside blueberry facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Hillside blueberry |
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Synonymy
Cyanococcus liparis Small
Cyanococcus margarettae (Ashe) Small Cyanococcus pallidus (Aiton) Small Cyanococcus subcordatus Small Cyanococcus tallapusae Coville ex Small Cyanococcus vacillans] (Kalm ex Torrey) Rydberg Vaccinium altomontanum] Ashe Vaccinium corymbosum var. pallidum (Aiton) A. Gray Vaccinium margarettae Ashe Vaccinium vacillans Kalm ex Torrey Vaccinium vacillans var. crinitum Fernald Vaccinium vacillans var. missouriense Ashe Vaccinium viride Ashe |
Vaccinium pallidum is a type of flowering plant. It belongs to the heath family, just like other blueberries. People call it by many names, such as hillside blueberry or Blue Ridge blueberry.
This plant grows naturally in central Canada, especially in Ontario. You can also find it across the central and eastern United States. Its range stretches from Maine in the east to Wisconsin in the west. It also grows south to Georgia and Louisiana. You can even find it in the Ozarks region, which covers parts of Missouri, Arkansas, southeastern Kansas, and eastern Oklahoma.
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What the Hillside Blueberry Looks Like
The hillside blueberry is a shrub that loses its leaves in the fall. It usually stands upright. Its height can change a lot depending on where it grows. Most plants are about 23 to 51 centimeters (9 to 20 inches) tall. However, some can be as small as 8 centimeters (3.2 inches) or as tall as 1 meter (40 inches).
This plant grows in groups, forming colonies. It sends out underground stems called rhizomes. New plants sprout from these rhizomes, creating a group of clones that are all genetically identical.
Stems and Leaves
The stems of the hillside blueberry have bark that can be greenish-brown or red. The smaller, newer twigs might be green, reddish, yellowish, or gray.
The leaves grow one after another along the stem. They are usually shaped like an oval. Each leaf is about 2 to 6 centimeters (0.8 to 2.4 inches) long. Their color can be green, yellowish, or bluish. In the fall, these leaves turn a beautiful red color.
Flowers and Fruit
The flowers of this plant are shaped like cylinders, bells, or urns. They grow in clusters called racemes, with up to 11 flowers in each cluster. The flowers are usually white, pinkish, or greenish. Some are described as "greenish white with pink stripes." They are about half a centimeter to one centimeter long.
Pollination is very important for these flowers. Bees, like bumblebees and Andrena carlini, help to pollinate them. After pollination, the plant produces a berry. These berries can be up to 1.2 centimeters long. They are often waxy blue or shiny black. Sometimes, very rarely, they are pure white. Each berry has several seeds inside, but not all of them can grow into new plants.
How the Hillside Blueberry Reproduces
The hillside blueberry can make new plants in two ways. It can reproduce sexually using its seeds. It can also reproduce vegetatively. This means new plants sprout from the underground rhizomes, creating more plants that are exact copies of the parent.
Where the Hillside Blueberry Lives
You can find Vaccinium pallidum in many different places. It grows in woodlands with oak and chestnut trees. It also likes maple swamps, pine barrens, and pine savannas. It lives in many kinds of forests.
This blueberry plant often grows under taller trees. Some of these trees include red oak, black oak, white oak, post oak, chestnut oak, and blackjack oak. It also grows under different types of pine trees, like Virginia pine, shortleaf pine, pitch pine, loblolly pine, longleaf pine, and jack pine. Other trees it grows with are eastern hemlock, red maple, and black cherry.
The hillside blueberry is common in places that have been changed by humans. This includes roadsides and old fields that are no longer used. It can also grow in very old oak forests, like those in the South Carolina piedmont region. It can grow in dry, rocky soils, sandy soils, gravelly soils, and even heavy clay. The areas where it grows usually have a lot of humidity.
Uses of the Hillside Blueberry
The wild berries from this plant are an important food source. Many types of birds and other animals eat them. Each berry has about eight calories.
For humans, the berries taste "sweet to bland." You can eat them fresh, right off the plant. They are also great for making pies or jelly. In some areas, like northeastern Alabama and northwestern Georgia, people harvest these berries and sell them. The plant is also grown as an ornamental in gardens because it looks nice.
