Native Plant Highlight: Shiny Blueberry

Native Plant Highlight: Shiny Blueberry Vaccinium myrsinites: hedge trimmers not necessary.

by Amy Bowen Carter, Coastal Plains Chapter of Georgia Native Plant Society

Are you looking for a low growing, fine textured, evergreen shrub, suitable for large or small garden landscapes? Shiny blueberry may be just the plant for you. Find a space with very good drainage and sun to part shade, and Vaccinium myrsinites will thrive: hedge trimmers are not wanted and not necessary.

Description. Vaccinium myrsinites is hardy in zones 8-10. The small, fine textured, glossy leaves are mostly evergreen, alternately arranged, and are ovate to elliptic, with entire margins. A strong magnifying lens is required to see the fine hairs on the stems and red glands on the underside of the leaves. Clusters of white to light pink flowers appear in spring. Serious botanists would describe the lovely cylindrical flowers as urceolate, or urn shaped, typical of vaccinium species. Fruits are shiny, dark blue or black round berries, about one fourth to one third inch in diameter. Mature height is about 1 to 3 feet; the width increases as the plants colonize, spreading by robust underground rhizomes.

photo by Heather Brasell

Natural habitats. According to U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Forest Service, distribution of shiny blueberry, aka dwarf blueberry, ground blueberry, and Florida evergreen blueberry, is in the coastal plain regions of Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina and the entire state of Florida. The plant is a prominent component of scrubby, xeric pine flatwoods, oak-palmetto scrub, pine-oak scrub and scrub palmetto communities (Tirmenstein, 1990).

Wildlife value. Perhaps due to the limited natural range in the U.S., wildlife uses are not well documented. The berries are sweet and rich in vitamin C and energy content, making it “highly palatable to a wide variety of birds and mammals” (Tirmenstein, 1990). It is known that raccoon, black bear, mice, fox, and squirrel feed on the fruit of many Vaccinium species; it is likely that those mammals would find the fruit of shiny blueberry enticing. The structure of the low growing, multistemmed, colonizing plants could provide cover for small birds and mammals.

Considerations for your garden. Vaccinium myrsinites performs well in acidic soils. Good drainage is an essential requirement. The colonizing habit of the plants could be used to advantage in the landscape: to stabilize a slope, to fill an awkward space created by walkways, to provide a fine-textured element in the design.

The photo below shows Vaccinium myrsinites in the Coastal Plain Research Arboretum, located at University of Georgia Tifton Campus. Two plants were installed on the sandy site twelve years ago.

photo by Dana Cheekp

Today, the plants cover an area measuring about 16 feet by 8 feet. To say “minimal care has been given to the plants” is an understatement! They were planted and left to fend for themselves. As you can see from the photograph, the plants are thriving in the location.

Author Sally Wasowski compares and combines Vaccinium myrsinites and V. darrowii on the same page. The main difference between the two species, “as far as landscapers are concerned is that V. darrowii tolerates more moisture, while V. myrsinites tolerates more drought.” Wasowski’s words sum up her appreciation of the plant in the landscape. “Use them wherever you need a small evergreen shrub.

They can border a flower bed or substitute for a boxwood hedge… Or, you could plant masses of them as a groundcover to eliminate expanses of lawn, both for aesthetic and environmental reasons. A groundcover of blueberries will prevent runoff, hold moisture in the soil, and provide a feast of berries for songbirds.” From this landscaper’s perspective, that is high praise for a relatively unknown plant.

An interesting contradiction to note, Tirmenstein wrote in an article on the Fire Effects Information System website, “This rhizomatous shrub commonly forms extensive colonies. Colonies approximately 0.6 mile across and at least 1,000 years of age have been reported.” Yet, another author/authors on a frequented website wrote that Vaccinium myrsinites is a “short-lived perennial….. best used as a wildflower as it has a relatively short lifespan.”

If you garden in zones 8 or 9, Vaccinium myrsinities is certainly worth a try. The success of the plants in the Coastal Plain Research Arboretum allow me to make the strong recommendation. Acid soil, sun to part shade, and excellent drainage required; hedge trimmers not necessary.

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References

Miller, James H. and Karl V. Miller. Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Forest Uses, Revised Edition; The University of Georgia Press, 2005.

“Shiny blueberry,” Florida Wildflower Foundation, 2017, www.flawildflowers.org.

Tirmenstein, D., 1990. Vaccinium myrsinites. In; Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). www.fs.fed.us

“Vaccinium myrsinites, shiny blueberry,” Florida Native Plant Society, 2013, www.fnps.org.

Wasowski, Sally. Gardening with Native Plants of the South; Taylor Trade Publishing, 2010.