Northern Highbush Blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum) — identification, habitat & look-alikes

Highbush blueberry is the wild shrub of eastern North America behind the cultivated highbush blueberry, a major fruit crop in the eastern US. Named varieties with bigger, more plentiful berries were bred in the early 1900s and released from the 1920s on, and the plant is also grown for its bell-shaped spring flowers and colorful fall leaves.

Appearance

Growth form: A deciduous, many-stemmed shrub about 6–12 ft (1.8–3.7 m) tall that often forms dense thickets.
Leaves: Glossy, oval leaves about 1–3½ in (2.5–9 cm) long. They turn red, orange, yellow, and purple in fall.
Flowers: Small white to pale pink, bell- or urn-shaped flowers about ¼–½ in (6–13 mm) long hang in short clusters at the tips of last year's twigs. In North Carolina they March to May.
Fruit: Blue-black berries with a whitish waxy bloom, about ¼–½ in (6–13 mm) across. They ripen from green through pink to blue; planting early, mid, and late varieties can stretch the harvest from June to mid-September.

Look-alikes

lowbush blueberryVaccinium angustifolium

Lowbush stays knee-high or lower, about 6–20 in (15–50 cm), while highbush grows into a shrub taller than a person.

Why they get mixed upBoth make blue, sweet berries and are simply called 'blueberry.'

rabbiteye blueberryVaccinium virgatum

Rabbiteye varieties are grown mostly where winters are mild, while northern highbush types suit colder areas. The two are hard to tell apart from photos alone.

Why they get mixed upIt is a closely related blueberry that is sold and grown right alongside highbush types.

Where it lives

Typical habitats: bogs
swamps
moist woods
high-elevation forests
Range: Native from Ontario and Nova Scotia south to Florida and eastern Texas, across much of the eastern US.
Preferred conditions: Grows in moist to wet, very acidic soil in open or wooded spots. In gardens it does best at a soil pH of about 4.5–5.5 and is hardy in USDA zones 3a–8b.
Flowering: Flowers Mar–May
Flowers Mar–May · Fruit Jun–Sep

Growing it

Care: Planting at least two varieties that bloom at the same time gives bigger berries and larger crops. Netting keeps birds off the fruit, and removing old wood now and then keeps berries large.

Name and classification

Varieties and forms: Dozens of cultivars exist, sorted by harvest time: early types like 'Duke', mid-season types like 'Bluecrop', and late types like 'Elliott'. "Southern highbush" blueberries are crosses of this species with Darrow's blueberry (Vaccinium darrowii), a Florida native, first made in the 1950s and bred for warmer regions.