7.
Vaccinium scoparium
Leiberg ex Coville, Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 5: 103. 1897.
Grouse whortleberry
Vaccinium myrtillus
Linnaeus var.
microphyllum
Hooker, Fl. Bor.-Amer. 2: 33. 1834;
V. erythrococcum
Rydberg
Plants
forming extensive colonies, 0.7-2 dm, rhizomatous; twigs green, angled, glabrous; ultimate branches compact, often forming broomlike clumps or tufts.
Leaf blades
pale green abaxially, elliptic, lanceolate, or ovate-lanceolate, 7-11 × 4-6 mm, margins finely serrulate, surfaces glabrous.
Flowers:
calyx pale green, lobes vestigial, glabrous; corolla pink, globose to urceolate, 3-4 × 3-4 mm, thin, glaucous; filaments glabrous.
Berries
red, ± translucent, or bluish purple, 4-6 mm diam.
Seeds
ca. 1 mm.
Flowering early-mid summer. Alpine and subalpine meadows, heaths, talus slopes; 700-3000 m; Alta., B.C.; Calif., Colo., Idaho, Mont., Nev., N.Mex., Oreg., S.Dak., Utah, Wash., Wyo.
The soft, tart, bright red berries of
Vaccinium scoparium
, to 6 mm diameter, have fair to good flavor and were gathered and eaten raw by the Kootenay, Okanogan, Shuswap, and other Indian tribes. Harvesting was probably done using wooden or fish-bone combs. Small fruit size, low yields, and difficult harvesting make commercial prospects for
V. scoparium
questionable.
