Var. pállidum, Gray. Leaves mostly glabrous, pale or whitish, glaucous especially underneath, serrulate with bristly teeth.—Common in the Alleghanies southward, mostly on the higher ridges.
Var. atrocóccum, Gray. The most distinct form; leaves entire, downy or woolly underneath even when old, as also the branchlets; berries smaller, black, without bloom.—New Eng. to Penn.
§ 3. VACCINIUM proper. (Bilberries.) Corolla ovate to globular, 4–5-toothed; filaments glabrous; anthers 2-awned on the back, included; berry 4–5-celled; leaves deciduous; flowers on drooping pedicels, solitary or few together, appearing with or after the leaves; mostly glabrous.
[*] Parts of the flower mostly in fours; stamens 8.
8. V. uliginòsum, L. (Bog Bilberry.) Low and spreading (4´–2° high), tufted; leaves entire, dull, obovate or oblong, pale and slightly pubescent underneath; flowers single or 2–3 together from a scaly bud, almost sessile; corolla short, urn-shaped; berries black with a bloom, sweet.—Alpine tops of the high mountains of N. Eng. and N. Y., shore of L. Superior, and northwestward. (Eu.)
[*][*] Parts of the flower in fives; stamens 10; leaves membranaceous; flowers solitary on short axillary peduncles, nodding.
9. V. cæspitòsum, Michx. Dwarf (3–6´ high), tufted, leaves obovate, narrowed at the base, smooth and shining, serrate; corolla oblong, slightly urn-shaped; berries blue.—Alpine region of the White Mts., and high northward.—Var. cuneifòlium, Nutt., is a foot high or less, bushy, with cuneate-spatulate leaves rounded at the apex, passing in one form to spatulate-lanceolate and acute.—Shores of L. Superior and westward.
10. V. myrtilloìdes, Hook. More erect, 1–5° high; branchlets somewhat angled; leaves mostly ovate and acute or pointed, sharply and closely serrulate, bright green, nearly smooth; border of the calyx almost entire; corolla depressed-globular, rather large; berries large, black, rather acid.—Damp woods, shores of L. Superior, and northwestward. May, June.—Pedicels 3–6´´ long, drooping in flower, erect in fruit.
11. V. ovalifòlium, Smith. Straggling, 2–12° high; leaves elliptical, obtuse, nearly entire, pale, mostly glaucous beneath, smooth; corolla ovoid; berries blue.—Peat-bogs, shores of L. Superior, and northwestward. May.
§ 4. VÌTIS-IDÆ̀A. Corolla, berry, etc., as in § 3; filaments hairy; anthers awnless; leaves coriaceous and persistent; flowers in clusters from separate buds, 4-merous (in our species); mostly glabrous; leaves 3–6´´ long.