Ericaceae

The Blueberries and Allies

Mountain-laurel Trailing Arbutus Southern Highbush Blueberry Large Cranberry

What are they?

The Ericaceae (often known as the Heath Family) is a large and very diverse family, consisting mostly of woody shrubs, sub-shrubs and trees and found throughout most of the world. In North America, the best members of the family are the Vacciniums, the genus which includes the blueberries, huckleberries and cranberries. Although flowers in this family are five-petalled, many species have the petals fused to form a bell-shaped or tubular flower.

Where are they found?

This family is classicly recognised for its tolerance of heavily acid soils. As such they are often found forming a shrub layer in conifer forests.

Identification

Some members of the family are easily recognised when in flower, but the vacciniums can be notoriously difficult to identify and care should be taken to study leaf and stem details, especially for the presence and absence of hairs (and, if present, the distribution of hairs), whether the leaves are green or whitish below and whether the leaf margins have teeth or are smooth. Note that the flowers of many species may be either white or pink (sometimes fading to white as they age).

Technical terms that it is useful to know when identifying this group are Bract and Pedicel. The bract is a leaf-like growth that usually grows from the stem beside a flower stalk or cluster of flower stalks. The pedicel is a technical name for a stalk which carries a flower (a stalk which carries more than one flower is called a peduncle).

Bearberry Arctostaphylos uva-ursi

A common species in the New Jersey pine barrens but rare in Cape May with just a handful of old records from the county. Flowers May. A low, creeping, evergreen sub-shrub that carpets the ground in dry, sandy soil.


Creeping habit	Flowers	Leaf	Fruit

Pink Azalea Rhododendron periclymenoides

Widespread in New Jersey but uncommon in pine-barren and coastal habitats and rare in Cape Mape County. Occasionally found in undisturbed woods in the south of the county. Flowers May.


Habit	Flowers	Flowers	Leaves


Leaf edge	Seed pods	Winter bud

Swamp Azalea Rhododendron viscosum

Widespread and common in shady swamps and wet woods. Flowers June to July. The flowers have long, protruding stamens and the petal tube has stalked, sticky glands on it.


Habit	Flowers	Sticky hairs on flower tube	Leaf


Leaf edge with glandular hairs	Seed pods	Winter buds

Dwarf Azalea Rhododendron atlanticum

A rare plant in New Jersey and currently known from just a couple of sandy woodland locations. Flowers May to June. Very similar to Swamp Azalea but much smaller, growing only to about two feet in height, and flowering a month or so earlier.


Habit	Flowers	Leaf	Leaf underside


Seed pod

Sheep-laurel Kalmia angustifolia

A low-growing sub-shrub, typically less than two feet in height, found in favored places in woodland in the north of the county. Flowers late May to June. Similar in appearance to Mountain-laurel, but flowers are a much richer pink and the plant is much smaller and never dominant.


Habit	Flowers	Leaves	Leaves

Old seed capsules

Mountain-laurel Kalmia latifolia

A common and often dominant large, spreading shrub of acid woodland, especially common in Belleplain State Forest where it often forms almost impenetrable thickets. Flowers late May to early July. Despite the name, this species is common in lowlands.Spectacular and readily identified when in flower. Leaves leathery, shiny, often with a yellowish petiole and mid-rib.


Habit	Flowers	Leaf


Old seed capsules	Bark

Sand-myrtle Kalmia buxifolia

Not currently known to occur in Cape May County but locally common in parts of the pine barrens. Flowers late April to early May. A classic pine barren species which is very local in distribution but may form large communities of low shrubs, up to two feet high, which can look spectacular when covered in flowers. Leaves variable in shape but always small, thick and evergreen.


Habit	Habit	Flowers	Flowers


Leaves	Leaf	Seed capsules

Maleberry Lyonia ligustrina

An understory shrub, usually typically found in wet or swampy woodland. Flowers May to July. Flowers distinguished by being small and spherical. Leaves rather non-descript but have netted venation and minutely toothed margins.


Habit	Flowers	Flowers close-up	Seed capsules


Leaf	Leaf underside	Leaf edge	Winter twig

Staggerbush Lyonia mariana

An understory shrub, more typical of the coastal pine barrens but not uncommon in woodland openings and powerline cuts in the northern part of Cape May County, becoming less common southward. Flowers late May to June. Flowers distinguished by being rather parallel-sided in profile and having longish, leafy sepals. Leaves rather non-descript but have netted venation and untoothed margins.


Habit	Flowers close-up	Stems often with red at leaf nodes	Leaf


Leaf underside and edge	Fresh seed capsules	Seed capsules persist through winter	Winter twig

Leatherleaf Chamaedaphne calyculata

A rather localized low shrub of pristine peat bogs, but can be abundant where it occurs. Flowers late April to May. Leaves have a silvery or rusty look to them, especially underneath, and are stiff and leathery.


Leaves	Flowers	Leaf upperside	Leaf underside


Young seed capsules	Leaves bronzy in winter	Winter twig

Swamp Sweetbells Eubotrys racemosa

A common understory shrub in wet woodland. Flowers mid May to early June. The flowers have a fabulous scent which fills the woods with their fragrance in still days in late May. The flowers are arranged in horizontal rows on short, woody spurs and the leaves are pointed, with finely toothed edges.


Flowers	Leaves	Leaf


Seed capsules persist through winter	Winter twig	Bark

Trailing Arbutus Epigaea repens

An uncommon and easily overlooked sub-shrub which creeps along the ground and is often largely covered in leaf litter. Typically found in dry, acid soils beneath conifers, especially pines. Flowers April to May.


Habit	Flowers	Flower	Leaf

Checkerberry Gaultheria procumbens

(Wintergreen, Eastern Teaberry) A widespread, low, creeping species of dry woodland. Flowers July to August. The berries of this plant have a familiar smell, as it is used as a commercial source for wintergreen.


Habit	Habit	Flower	Fruit

Early Lowbush Blueberry Vaccinium pallidum

(Blue Ridge Blueberry) An easily overlooked understory sub-shrub, typically found growing in dry woodland beneath taller blueberry species. Flowers May. Compared with other blueberries, leaves are rather stiff and rounded, have well-marked, netted venation and bristly edges.


Habit	Flower	Leaves	Leaf underside


Fruit	Winter buds

Late Lowbush Blueberry Vaccinium angustifolium

A low-growing species of blueberry which can be locally common in sandy pine barrens habitats. Not recorded from Cape May County but may occur in the northern part of the region. Flowers May. The combination of low growth and narrow, pointed leaves is distinctive.


Habit	Flower	Leaves	Leaf underside

Southern Highbush Blueberry Vaccinium formosum

This is a large shrub, famous for producing some our favorite commercial blueberries. It is a common and often dominant understory shrub in all kinds of wet and dry, acid woodlands. Flowers May to June. Identification of highbush blueberries can be difficult as the complex was split into several species, each of which is somewhat variable in its leaf detail. Generally told from other tall blueberry species by its leaves which are green beneath, toothless on the margin and usually hairless or with just a few hairs (note that there are varieties of this species with fine teeth (var. albiflorum) or with larger teeth and whitened beneath (var. glabrum)).


Flowers	Flowers	Leaves	Leaf underside


Fruit	Winter twig

New Jersey Blueberry Vaccinium caesariense

Uncommon in damp soil. Flowers May to June. Very hard to separate from the much more common Southern Highbush Blueberry but usually has leaves that are slightly whitish below. Leaves are hairless and tend to be widest at or above the middle.


Habit	Leaves	Leaf	Leaf underside

Black Highbush Blueberry Vaccinium fuscatum

Local but may be common where it is found, in bottomland woods and damp, sandy soils in shady woodland. Flowers April to June. A slightly odd plant as it grows tall like a typical highbush blueberry but has small, black fruits similar to those of the huckleberries. Leaves pale below and slightly woolly; fruits black without a bloom or pruinescence on them.


Flowers	Leaf	Leaf underside


Habit in fruit	Fruit	Winter bud	Bark

Large Cranberry Vaccinium macrocarpon

A native species and common in wet sphagnum bogs in swampy ground. Flowers July to September. A tiny sub-shrub that trails on the ground and is easily missed when not in flower. This is the species that is cultivated to provide edible Cranberries, so is perhaps now more common than it once was as a native species. Sadly most, if not all, of Cape May's cranberry bogs have been abandoned and, although many fall within wildlife management areas or state parks few, if any, are being managed and encroaching scrub will soon deprive us of a great many plant species that need open sphagnum bog to survive.


Flower and leaf	Flower close-up	Leaves	Fruit

Tall Huckleberry Gaylussacia frondosa

(Dangleberry, Blue Huckleberry) A common low shrub of both wet and dry woodland. Flowers May to June. Leaves have a slightly bluish (glaucous) look and have yellow resin dots. Flowers and fruits are on longer stems than other species, giving the alternative English name of Dangleberry.


Flowers	Flower close-up	Leaves	Leaf underside


Fruit	Winter twig

Black Huckleberry Gaylussacia baccata

A very common low shrub of both wet and dry woodland. Flowers May to June. Leaves are untoothed and have yellowish resin dots on both surfaces. This is the species that carpets large areas of ground in dry pine-oak forest.


Habit	Flowers	Leaves	Fruit

Winter twig

Dwarf Huckleberry Gaylussacia dumosa

A low, spreading shrub of both wet and dry woodland. Flowers May to June. Leaves are untoothed and have yellowish resin dots on both surfaces. Young stems are very downy and also have yellowish glands on them.


Habit	Flowers	Leaf	Stems with glandular hairs

Fruit

Broom-crowberry Corema conradii

A rare, boreal plant that has an outlying population in the New Jersey pine barrens. Flowers March. This plant is included here as some reference sources list the species for Cape May County, but its rarity and very specialized habitat requirements make it unlikely that it occurs here - but you never know! A low, conifer-like sub-shrub growing to no more than 18 inches high - and often much less. Flowers without petals, appearing at the tips of the shoots in early spring.


Habit	Flowers	Leaves	Seed pods

Cape May Plants An Identification Guide

The Blueberries and Allies

What are they?

Where are they found?

Identification

Species List

Cape May Plants
An Identification Guide