Early Lowbush Blueberry
Vaccinium pallidum
This species is highly fire-adapted; while a forest fire burns its woody stems, its underground rhizomes survive to sprout vigorously and produce bumper crops of berries.
- Scientific name
- Vaccinium pallidum
- Taxonomy
- Plantae › Tracheophyta › Magnoliopsida › Ericales › Ericaceae › Vaccinium
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- stable
- Biome
- forest
- Habitat
- Dry upland forests, oak-pine woodlands, rocky barrens, and sandy clearings.
- Diet
- Photosynthetic (requires sunlight, water, and acidic, nutrient-poor soils).
- Range
- Eastern North America, Appalachian Mountains, Ozark Plateau, Great Lakes Region
- Size
- 30 to 100 cm (1 to 3 feet) tall
- Lifespan
- Individual stems live 5-15 years, but the underground clonal colony can live for over 100 years.
- Active
- diurnal
- Threats
- Fire suppression (which leads to dense canopy shade), habitat fragmentation, and heavy browsing by overpopulated deer.
- Safe to approach?
- Harmless and welcoming. You can safely touch the plant and forage its sweet, edible berries in mid-to-late summer, but always ensure 100% accurate identification to avoid toxic lookalikes. Avoid trampling or breaking its woody branches.
Vaccinium pallidum is a species of flowering plant in the heath family known by the common names hillside blueberry , Blue Ridge blueberry , late lowbush blueberry , and early lowbush blueberry . It is native to central Canada (Ontario) and the central and eastern United States (from Maine west to Wisconsin and south as far as Georgia and Louisiana) plus the Ozarks of Missouri, Arkansas, southeastern Kansas and eastern Oklahoma.
Photo: Douglas Goldman, CC-BY-SA, via iNaturalist
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