Dwarf Huckleberry is a deciduous low, colonial shrub of dry to mesic woodlands. Very common in the Coastal Plain, Dwarf Huckleberry is occasionally found in the Piedmont or Mountain regions. Similar to a blueberries, especially Vaccinium tenellum (Small Black Blueberry), but with resin glands on the leaves and 10 seeds (blueberries have more). Also note the mucronate leaf tips (the mucro is the short pointed extension of the central leaf vein).

Robeson Co., NC 5/29/08.

Not pictured, the recently split Northern Dwarf Huckleberry (Gaylussacia bigeloviana (Fernald) Sorrie & Weakley), which grows in a few coastal bogs, has slightly larger flowers and grows to 0.4-1.0 meter tall, while Gaylussacia dumosa is less than 0.4 meter tall.

Robeson Co., NC 5/29/08.