- Vaccinium ovalifolium
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Vaccinium ovalifolium 
Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest Scientific classification Kingdom: Plantae (unranked): Angiosperms (unranked): Eudicots (unranked): Asterids Order: Ericales Family: Ericaceae Subfamily: Vaccinioideae Tribe: Vaccinieae Genus: Vaccinium Species: V. ovalifolium Binomial name Vaccinium ovalifolium
Sm.Synonyms Vaccinium alaskaense
Vaccinium ovalifolium (known as Alaska Blueberry, Early Blueberry or Oval-leaf Blueberry) is a plant found in coastal forests throughout southern Alaska and the Aleutian Islands.
Contents
Growth
It is a spreading shrub which may grow to 5 feet (1.5 m) tall. It has pink 1⁄4 in (0.64 cm) urn-shaped flowers.
Food uses
It is used by residents in jams and jellies and for making liqueur. The leaves are used for tea. Blueberry tea can be made from the leaves of the blueberry plant or from the juice of the blueberries themselves. In the winter, the shrub is an important food source for grazing deer, goats, and elk, and in the summer the nectar feeds hummingbirds.
Older bark is greyish, but twigs are brown, yellow or reddish.
References
- Ewing, Susan (1996). The Great Alaska Nature Factbook. Portland: Alaska Northwest Books. ISBN 0882404547.
External links
Media related to Vaccinium ovalifolium at Wikimedia Commons- ITIS Standard Report Page: Vaccinium ovalifolium
- Vaccinium ovalifolium in Plantarium Database - A Photo Guide.
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