Vaccinium myrsinites

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Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Cladus: Asterids
Ordo: Ericales

Familia: Ericaceae
Subfamilia: Vaccinioideae
Tribus: Vaccinieae
Genus: Vaccinium
Sectio: V. sect. Cyanococcus
Species: Vaccinium myrsinites
Name

Vaccinium myrsinites Lam., 1783
Synonyms

Cyanococcus myrsinites (Lam.) Small
Vaccinium nitidum Andr.

Distribution
Native distribution areas:

Continental: Northern America
Regional: Southeastern USA
USA (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina)

References: Brummitt, R.K. 2001. TDWG – World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, 2nd Edition
References
Primary references

Lamarck, J.-B. 1783–1785. Encyclopédie méthodique. Botanique. Tome 1. XLIV+752 pp. Panckoucke, Paris; Plomteux, Liége. BHL Reference page. : 1:73.

Links

Hassler, M. 2020. Vaccinium myrsinites. World Plants: Synonymic Checklists of the Vascular Plants of the World In: Roskovh, Y., Abucay, L., Orrell, T., Nicolson, D., Bailly, N., Kirk, P., Bourgoin, T., DeWalt, R.E., Decock, W., De Wever, A., Nieukerken, E. van, Zarucchi, J. & Penev, L., eds. 2020. Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2020 May 29. Reference page.
Govaerts, R. et al. 2020. Vaccinium myrsinites in Kew Science Plants of the World online. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2020 May 29. Reference page.
International Plant Names Index. 2020. Vaccinium myrsinites. Published online. Accessed: May 29 2020.
Tropicos.org 2020. Vaccinium myrsinites. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2020 May 29.
USDA, ARS, Germplasm Resources Information Network. Vaccinium myrsinites in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service. Accessed: 2020 May 29.

Vernacular names
English: evergreen blueberry, shiny blueberry
español: arándano brillante

Vaccinium myrsinites is a species of flowering plant in the heath family known by the common name shiny blueberry. It is native to the southeastern United States from Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and Florida.[2] It may occur as far west as Louisiana.[3]

Vaccinium myrsinites is an erect, branching shrub that reaches one meter (40 inches) in maximum height. It is rhizomatous and can form very large colonies. Colonies measuring one kilometer (0.63 miles ) across and over 1,000 years old have been observed.[3] It is generally evergreen, but some forms are deciduous. The stems have angular green twigs. The leathery, green or grayish green, oval leaves are up to roughly one centimeter (0.4 inches) long and have smooth or vaguely toothed edges. The undersides are glandular. The flowers are urn-shaped or cylindrical, white to pink or red-tinged, and borne in clusters of up to 8. They may be nearly one centimeter long. The fruit is a black or waxy blue berry up to 8 or 9 millimeters in length containing several seeds.[1][3]

Vaccinium myrsinites grows in several habitat types in the southeastern U.S., including prairies, pine barrens, bog margins, flatwoods, Florida scrub, palmetto communities, and rosemary balds. It also grows in disturbed, clearcut, and fallow cultivated areas. Associated plants include scrub palmetto, netted pawpaw, scrubclover, dodder, Florida blazingstar, scrub mint, tree sparkleberry, saw palmetto, Lyonia, dwarf huckleberry, inkberry, bracken fern, several oaks, many species of pine. The best sites are dry, sandy stretches of acidic soils in full sunlight.[3]

In common with many southeastern scrub species, this plant is fire-adapted. It can recover from a fire by sprouting from its rhizome. This is also the way it forms vast colonies of cloned individuals. The plant also reproduces sexually by seed. The seeds are dispersed by animals, which relish the fruits.[3]

Vaccinium myrsinites is likely a hybrid of two other blueberry species, small cluster blueberry and Darrow's evergreen blueberry. Individuals may resemble one or the other parent species; the "darrowoid" phase is more common in coastal Florida, while the "tenneloid" phase can be found in southern Georgia and northern Florida. This species also hybridizes with many other blueberries.[3]

The Seminole used V. myrsinites for food and for a variety of ceremonial and medicinal purposes, including the treatment of "hog sickness", or unconsciousness.[4]
References

Flora of North America, Vaccinium myrsinites Lamarck 1783. Shiny blueberry .
Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map
Tirmenstein, D. 1990. Vaccinium myrsinites. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory.
Vaccinium myrsinites. University of Michigan Ethnobotany.