Best Ericaceae

Highbush blueberry, Vaccinium corymbosum, is a deciduous shrub in the heath family native to eastern North America. It produces clusters of blue to blue-black fruits and is a principal source of commercially cultivated blueberries, with varieties selected for climate, ripening season, fruit quality,...

Vaccinium myrtillus, commonly called bilberry, is a low-growing shrub in the heath family native across much of Europe and parts of northern Asia. It bears small blue-black berries whose flesh is dark and strongly pigmented, unlike the pale interior of many cultivated blueberries. The fruit contains...

Vaccinium membranaceum, commonly called black huckleberry or thinleaf huckleberry, is a deciduous shrub native to forests and mountain regions of western North America. It produces dark purple to nearly black edible berries that are gathered by people and eaten by wildlife, while its underground ste...

Lingonberry, Vaccinium vitis-idaea, is a low-growing evergreen shrub in the heath family, Ericaceae, native across boreal and Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere. It produces small red berries with a distinctly tart flavor and commonly grows in forests, heathlands, and tundra. The fruit is wid...

The American cranberry, Vaccinium macrocarpon, is a low-growing evergreen shrub in the heath family, Ericaceae, native to acidic wetlands in eastern North America. It produces firm red berries with a notably tart flavor and is the principal cranberry species cultivated commercially in the United Sta...

Vaccinium virgatum, commonly called rabbiteye blueberry, is a deciduous shrub in the heath family, Ericaceae, native to the southeastern United States. Its common name refers to the pinkish appearance of the fruit before it ripens to blue. The species is adapted to long, warm growing seasons and is...

O'Neal is an early-ripening southern highbush blueberry cultivar developed at North Carolina State University and released in 1987. It was bred for regions with relatively mild winters and has lower chilling requirements than many northern highbush cultivars, making it useful in parts of the southea...

Vaccinium ovatum, commonly called evergreen huckleberry, is an evergreen shrub in the heath family native to the Pacific coast of North America, from British Columbia south through California. It bears small pinkish flowers followed by dark purple to black edible berries, which have long been gather...

Bruckenthalia spiculifolia, commonly known as spiked heath, is a flowering shrub native to the Balkans and Turkey, recognized for its distinct spherical pink flowers.

Sunshine Blue is a compact southern highbush blueberry cultivar developed for cultivation in regions with relatively mild winters. It is self-fertile, has a low chilling requirement commonly reported at about 150 hours, and produces pink flowers followed by edible blueberries. Its semi-dwarf, densel...

Snowchaser is a southern highbush blueberry cultivar developed by the University of Florida for commercial production in warm regions with mild winters. It has a low chilling requirement and ripens particularly early, allowing growers to harvest fruit near the beginning of the Florida blueberry seas...

Pink Lemonade is a tetraploid hybrid blueberry introduced by the USDA around 2006, distinguished by its pink rather than blue fruit at maturity and a sweet, mild flavor.

Gaultheria shallon is an evergreen shrub native to the Pacific Coast of North America, whose dark purple berries were one of the most important plant foods for coastal Indigenous peoples and were dried in large quantities for winter storage.

Peach Sorbet is a compact ornamental blueberry from Fall Creek Farm & Nursery, introduced around 2013, prized for its multicolored foliage in shades of pink, orange, and green.

Vaccinium parvifolium, native to the Pacific Coast of North America, produces bright red acidic berries that were a key dietary staple for many Pacific Northwest Indigenous peoples.

Vaccinium uliginosum is a circumpolar Arctic and alpine shrub producing dark blue-black berries that have been harvested by Indigenous peoples across the Northern Hemisphere for centuries.

Gaultheria procumbens is a low North American woodland plant whose leaves and red berries contain methyl salicylate, the compound that gives wintergreen flavoring its characteristic taste and that served as a precursor to aspirin.

An evergreen shrub native to the Mediterranean and Ireland producing red fruits used to make Portuguese medronho brandy and jams.

Empetrum nigrum is a circumpolar heathland shrub whose small black berries are a critical food source for birds and mammals in arctic and subarctic regions and have been harvested by Arctic peoples for centuries.

A low-growing heath-family shrub native to southern South America, producing small edible white or pink berries in subalpine Andean environments.

Gaultheria hispidula is a delicate creeping plant of boreal North America, producing small white berries with a mild wintergreen flavor that are found primarily in cool, mossy conifer forests and bogs.

Arctostaphylos manzanita is a chaparral shrub endemic to California, notable for its distinctive smooth burgundy bark and mealy red berries that were ground into flour or fermented into cider by Indigenous Californians.

An evergreen shrub native to southern Chile and Argentina, Gaultheria mucronata produces ornamental white or pink berries used in traditional Mapuche medicine.

Arctostaphylos uva-ursi is a circumpolar groundcover with the widest natural range of any woody plant, and its leaves have been used medicinally across northern Eurasia and North America for urinary tract conditions.