Vaccinium elliottii (Elliott’s Blueberry)

March 2^nd – 14^th. Elliott’s Blueberry is the earliest of the Vaccinium species to bloom, and fruit in Fort Yargo State Park.

Plants flower before they leaf out. I photographed these flowers on March 2^nd, and returned on March 14^th to photograph the plant.

This is a particularly large bush, probably 6-to-7 feet tall and 10-to-12 feet in diameter. It’s growing in a shaded location at the water’s edge in an inlet on the reservoir. (These photographs were taken when the water level had been lowered for maintenance/construction activities.)

These blueberries ripen relatively quickly and are quite tasty. The birds, however, devour them as soon as they ripen. 

Elliott’s Blueberry is distributed in the Southeastern United States, from Virginia to Texas.

References: 

- Native and Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas and Georgia: Vaccinium elliottii 

- USDA Plant Database:* Vaccinium elliottii (Elliott’s Blueberry) 

- US Wildflowers: Vaccinium elliottii

*USDA Plant Database is currently experiencing some difficulty in displaying distribution maps. I’ve provided a link to the page in the hope that you may be able to see the maps. Alternatively, an embedded distribution map is available at the US Wildflowers site.

Elliott's Blueberry (Vaccinium elliottii)

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In Winter, at first glance you’d be tempted to dismiss this plant as dead or just dismiss it because it's so easy to overlook. But when you look closer the stems are green. It’s alive.

Blossom buds first appeared in early March

Plants start to put out leaves after a couple of weeks and...

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Blossoms develop over the next 2-3 weeks. European bees (Apis mellifera) and Common Eastern Bumble Bees (Bombus impatiens) were buzzing around the bushes as the flowers matured. I've watched these bees harvesting pollen from our blueberries at home. They pierce the flower at the base of the flower near the stem to harvest the pollen and leave holes in the flowers. I've never seen blueberries on these bushes. I did, however, see a squirrel running back and forth over one of the larger bushes looking like it was gathering something - probably blueberries.

Elliott’s Blueberry is native to the southeastern United States. They are found from Virginia to Florida and west to Arkansas and Texas. I’ve only seen it around the lake at Fort Yargo State Park, particularly along segments 2 and 3.
Click on an image to view a larger image

Distribution Map:
United States Department of Agriculture Plants Database: Vaccinium elliottii (Elliott's Blueberry)

Identification resources:
- Southeastern Flora: Elliott's Blueberry (Vaccinium elliottii)

Related posts:
- 2010: Year Of The Wildflower