Virginia Tech Dendrology

Cascade bilberry Ericaceae Vaccinium deliciosum Piper symbol: VADE
Leaf: Alternate, simple, deciduous, elliptical, ovate, or obovate, to 2 inches long base is wedge-shaped; margins finely toothed (often only on upper 2/3 of blade); pale blue-green above and waxy below, red to purple in the fall.
Flower: Perfect, small (1/4 inch long); solitary; nodding; pinkish; corolla fused and nearly round; borne singly in leaf axils; appear in late spring.
Fruit: Small (1/4 to 1/2 inch diameter) blue berries, with waxy bloom; ripen in late summer, delicious.
Twig: Red-green and somewhat angled.
Bark: Gray and shreddy.
Form: A low shrub to 1 1/2 feet tall; may form dense mats because of rhizomatous spreading and stems that readily root where they touch the ground.
Looks like: dwarf bilberry - big huckleberry - velvet-leaf blueberry - ovalleaf huckleberry

Additional Range Information: Vaccinium deliciosum is native to North America. Range may be expanded by planting. Download the full-size PDF map.
External Links: USDA Plants Database
All material 2021 Virginia Tech Dept. of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation; Photos and text by: John Seiler, Edward Jensen, Alex Niemiera, and John Peterson; Silvics reprinted from Ag Handbook 654; range map source information