Vaccinium-gaultherioides_20

Description:

Vaccinium gaultherioides Bigelow, syn.: Vaccinium uliginosum ssp. microphyllum LangeBog Bilberry, Northern Bilberry, DE: Kleinblttrige Rauschbeere, Alpen-Nebelbeere, Alpen-Rauschbeere, Alpen-MoorbeereSlo.: drobnolistna kopinicaDat.: Aug. 22. 2013Lat.: 46.44200 Long.: 13.64423Code: Bot_745/2013_DSC7579Picture file names: from Vaccinium-gaultherioides_raw_20 to Vaccinium-gaultherioides_raw_23.Habitat: alpine grassland, slightly inclined mountain slope, east aspect; skeletal, acid ground; sunny, open place; exposed to direct rain; elevation 1.980 m (6.500 feet); average precipitations ~ 3.000 mm/year, average temperature 0-2 deg C, alpine phytogeographical region. Substratum: soil.Place: Mt. Mangart flats, southwest of the largest snow valley of Mangart's flats, East Julian Alps, Posoje, Slovenia EC.Comment: This Arctic-Alpine floral member loves acid ground in high mountains. It grows from subalpine to alpine elevations. Such places are rare in Slovenia and this is the reason why it is almost a rare plant in my country. Not so in countries with mostly siliceous, acid ground. Vaccinium gaultherioides is widely distributed in the Alps and other European mountains. The plant's flowers and berries are quite similar to much better known wild bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus) also named European blueberry. Both species can easily be recognized. Only bilberry has young stems green and square in cross-section with four sharp ridges. The berries of Vaccinium gaultherioides are also edible but I've never found them in a sufficient quantity to really eat them. At best one can taste them. The taste of Vaccinium gaultherioides is far inferior to the taste of wild bilberries. So, distinguishing between both species when they fruit is easy too.Ref.:(1) M.A. Fischer, W. Adler, K. Oswald, Exkursionsflora fr sterreich, Liechtenstein und Sdtirol, LO Landesmuseen, Linz, Austria (2005), p 666.(2) A. Martini et all., Mala Flora Slovenije (Flora of Slovenia - Key) (in Slovenian), Tehnina Zaloba Slovenije (2007), p 486. (3) D. Aeschimann, K. Lauber, D.M. Moser, J.P. Theurillat, Flora Alpina, Vol. 1., Haupt (2004), p 624.