Index / Search / Vaccinium cespitosum

§1 Plant

Vaccinium cespitosum Michx.

vernacular dwarf bilberry — species · Ericaceae

USDA: VACE
GBIF: 2882861
Rank: species

dwarf bilberry (Vaccinium cespitosum) — Platephotograph · no rights reservedCC0 · public domain source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Shrub, Subshrub
Duration: Perennial
Group: Dicot
Family: Ericaceae Juss.
Genus: Vaccinium

§2a

Native status, by region

AK Alaska Native
CAN Canada Native
L48 Lower 48 States Native

§2b

County-level range

· 52 counties across 8 states/territories

Legend Native · 52 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: Low
Shade: Low
Moisture use: High
Fire: High
Salinity: None
Anaerobic: None
CaCO₃: None
Hedging: High

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: -33 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 100 min.
Precipitation: 19–69 in/yr
pH range: 5–7
Root depth: 12 in min.
Fertility need: Low
Soil texture: coarse, medium

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Rhizomatous
Growth rate: Moderate
Lifespan: Moderate
Mature height: 1 ft
Foliage texture: Coarse
Foliage colour: Green
Porosity (summer): Dense
Porosity (winter): Porous
Flower colour: Red
Fruit colour: Black
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: None
Toxicity: None

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Early Summer
Seed abundance: High
Seed begins: Summer
Seed ends: Fall
Spread rate: Rapid
Stratify: No
Seeds / lb: 5,000,000
Propagation: seed, cuttings, bare root, container

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: Contracting Only
Nursery stock: Yes
Browse palatability: Low
Graze palatability: Low
Palatable, human: Yes
Protein potential: Low
Lumber: No
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 52 counties across 8 states/territories.

Alaska view state ↗ 10 N ▾

Maine view state ↗ 10 N ▾

Michigan view state ↗ 4 N ▾

Minnesota view state ↗ 10 N ▾

Montana view state ↗ 8 N ▾

New Hampshire view state ↗ 3 N ▾

New York view state ↗ 3 N ▾

Vermont view state ↗ 4 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/VACE ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/2882861 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T07:25:30Z