An edible deciduous shrub found along riverbanks, thickets, and bottom land forests. The flowers are pale pink, bell-shaped, and open in the early spring before the new leaves appear. It is similar to other blueberry species but differs in the fact that it has smaller leaves with a length of only 1″ long and numerous slender round hairy stems. Berries form in summer and the leaves turn bright red in fall.
Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Ericales
Family: Ericaceae
Genus: Vaccinium
Species: Vaccinium elliottii
Habitat
Forest, Wetland
Distribution
It is native to the southeastern and south-central United States, from southeastern Virginia south to Florida, and west to Arkansas and Texas.
Seasonality
Spring, Summer, Fall
Abundance
Common
Activity Time
Diurnal
Diet
Behavior
Ecological Role
Blueberry (vaccinium) species have special value to native bees, specifically our native Blueberry Bees (Habropoda laboriosa)