Vaccinium angustifolium
Lowbush Blueberry
General
Lowbush blueberry is a low-growing, open shrub with pretty flowers, fall color, and edible fruit. Attracts wildlife.
Plant Description
Lowbush blueberry is aptly named, ranging in height from only 6” to 2’. Leaves are alternate, simple, 1/3” to 3/4” long, dark green in the summer turning red in the fall. The little bell-shaped flowers (1/4” diameter) are white, and some of the earliest to bloom in the spring. The tasty, blue-black berries (up to ½ inch diameter, but mostly ¼ inch diameter), ripen in early to mid-summer.
Height (ft)
0.5-2
Spread (ft)
2
Soil moisture
Moist, Well-Drained
Soil types
Does well in dry, acidic, sandy, rocky soils; Well-Drained is key
Wetland indicator
FACU-
Shade tolerance
Tolerant (Full Sun to Part Shade)
Bloom color
White
Bloom period
May - June
Fall conspicuous
Yes
Anaerobic tolerance
Low
Drought tolerance
Medium
Salinity tolerance
None
Self-Pollinating?
No
Range
Lowbush blueberry is native to central and eastern Canada south to the Great Smoky Mountains and west to the Great Lakes.
Kartesz, J.T. 2024. Floristic Synthesis of North America, Version 1.0. Biota of North America Program (BONAP) [website http://bonap.org/]
Additional Information
According to BRIT - Native American Ethnobotany Database, the blueberries has been used as food by many tribes and an infusion of the leaves used to treat a baby with colic or used after a miscarriage. The Chippewa would use the dried flowers and place on hot stones and used as an inhalant for "craziness." This species' main however are the blueberries for cooking/baking and eaten raw.