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Vaccinium myrsinites Lam.
Shiny Blueberry
Evergreen Blueberry
Florida native
A common small shrub of flatwoods and sandhills in nearly all of Florida. The range extends through the southeastern coastal plain from Mississippi to South Carolina.
These low growing evergreen shrubs are less than 60cm (2 ft.) tall with small alternate leaves that are simple and elliptic 5-15mm (2/10 to 6/10 in.) long and up to 1cm (4/10 in.) wide. Margins are mostly entire but can be revolute and/or have small appressed teeth. The undersides of the leaves have minute stalked red glands (magnification required) which distinguish V. myrsinites from V. darrowii, which lacks these glands. The fruit is a berry 5-8mm (~1/4 in.) in diameter that is black at maturity.
Vaccinium myrsinites is a member of the Ericaceae - Heath family.
Other species of the Vaccinium genus in the Wild Florida Photo database:
Vaccinium arboreum - SPARKLEBERRY
Vaccinium corymbosum - HIGHBUSH BLUEBERRY
Vaccinium darrowii - DARROW'S BLUEBERRY
Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants (Institute for Systemic Botany) profile for this species
iNaturalist profile for this species
USDA Plant Profile for this species
Date record last modified: Aug 24, 2023
