Hairy blueberry

Photo: Mason Brock (Masebrock) — Public domain · source

Survives zone 5 through 7

Harvest calendar

Best planted in early spring after your last frost, or in fall before the ground freezes, depending on your climate.

Named for its unusual hairy berries and densely hairy leaves — a distinctive trait among blueberries, most of which are smooth-skinned. Another narrow southern Appalachian endemic, known from only a few counties in eastern Tennessee, northern Georgia and the Carolinas; NatureServe lists it as Vulnerable.

Hardiness

Zone 5–7

Habit

Shrub

Edible part

Fruit

Ripens

Summer

Mature size

Colonial, to about 75 cm (30 in)

Light

Full sun to part shade

Soil pH

4.0–5.2 (strongly acid)

Environment

Montane, temperate

Native range

Southern Appalachian Mountains — a few counties in eastern Tennessee, northern Georgia and the Carolinas; dry oak-pine ridges, locally abundant within its narrow range.

Status

Wild

Years to fruit

2–3 yrs

Growth speed

Slow

Spacing

90 cm (35 in) apart — about 1.2 per m² (1.1 per 10 sq ft)

Leaf shape

Thick, elliptical, densely hairy, to 6 cm

Root system

Shallow fibrous roots in the top 20–30 cm with few or no root hairs, relying on ericoid mycorrhizal fungi for uptake, spreading into colonies by underground rhizome. The clump you see is usually one plant. Keep it mulched and undisturbed; the rhizomes sit too shallow to survive digging around them.

Fruit description

Blue-black berry roughly 6–10 mm across and, uniquely among the blueberries, densely covered in fine hairs — the trait the name refers to and the quickest way to identify it. Sweet and edible, though the fuzz puts some people off eating them raw; usually cooked.

Propagation

Divide rooted pieces of the rhizome in early spring, or take semi-ripe cuttings in summer into an ericaceous mix. Seed needs cold stratification and is slow.

Pollination

The flowers hold their pollen in tubes that open by pores at the tip, so it is shaken out by bees that vibrate the anthers — bumblebees and solitary bees do this, honeybees largely cannot. No breeding-system study for this species specifically; partial to complete self-incompatibility is the norm across Vaccinium, so plant two if you want fruit rather than foliage.

The edible parts listed above are a starting point, not a field guide. Identify a plant with certainty — ideally against a local authority — before eating any part of it, and read the full disclaimer. Spotted something wrong? Report it.