§ 2. CYANOCÓCCUS. (Blueberries.) Corolla cylindraceous to campanulate, 5-toothed; filaments hairy; anthers included, awnless; berry (sweet and edible) blue or black with bloom, completely or incompletely 10-celled; flowers in fascicles or short racemes, short-pedicelled, appearing from large scaly buds with or before the leaves.
[*] Corolla cylindraceous when developed.
3. V. virgàtum, Ait. Low, more or less pubescent; leaves ovate-oblong to cuneate-lanceolate, usually acute and minutely serrulate, thinnish, shining at least above; flower-clusters sometimes virgate on naked branches; corolla rose-color; berry black.—In swamps, south of our range, but represented by
Var. tenéllum, Gray. Low form, mostly small-leaved, with smaller nearly white flowers in shorter or closer clusters.—Va. to Ark., and southward.
[*][*] Corolla shorter and broader. (Blueberries or Blue Huckleberries.)
4. V. Pennsylvánicum, Lam. (Dwarf Blueberry.) Dwarf (6–15´ high), smooth, with green warty stems and branches; leaves lanceolate or oblong, distinctly serrulate with bristle-pointed teeth, smooth and shining both sides (or sometimes downy on the midrib underneath); corolla short, cylindrical-bell-shaped; berries bluish-black and glaucous.—Dry hills, N. J. to Ill., north to Newf. and Sask. The lowest and earliest ripened of the blueberries.—Var. angustifòlium, Gray; a dwarfer high-mountain or northern form, with narrower lanceolate leaves.—White Mts. of N. H., Newf., and far northward.
5. V. Canadénse, Kalm. Low (1–2° high); leaves oblong-lanceolate or elliptical, entire, downy both sides, as well as the crowded branchlets; corolla shorter; otherwise as the last.—Swamps or moist woods, N. New Eng. to mountains of Penn., Ill., Minn., and northward.
6. V. vacíllans, Solander. (Low Blueberry.) Low (1–2½° high), glabrous, with yellowish-green branchlets; leaves obovate or oval, very pale or dull, glaucous, at least underneath, minutely ciliolate-serrulate or entire; corolla between bell-shaped and cylindraceous, the mouth somewhat contracted.—Dry places, especially in sandy soil, New Eng. to Mich. and Iowa, south to N. C. and Mo.—Berries ripening later than those of n. 4.
7. V. corymbòsum, L. (Common or Swamp-Blueberry.) Tall (5–10° high); leaves ovate, oval, oblong, or elliptical-lanceolate; corolla varying from turgid-ovate and cylindrical-urn-shaped to oblong-cylindrical, 3–4´´ long.—Swamps and low thickets, throughout our range and southward. This yields the common blueberry or blue huckleberry of the latter part of the season. The typical form has leaves with naked entire margins, and may be pubescent or glabrous (var. glàbrum, Gray, Man.) Numerous gradations unite the following varieties:—
Var. amœ̀num, Gray. Leaves bristly-ciliate, shining above, green both sides, beneath somewhat pubescent on the veins.—Middle Atlantic States.