Hairy Blueberry

Description

Vaccinium hirsutum is a species of flowering plant in the heath family known by the common name hairy blueberry. This species is endemic to a small area in the southern Appalachian mountains, where it is only known from a few counties in eastern Tennessee, northern Georgia, and the Carolinas. Vaccinium hirsutum is native to dry oak-pine ridges, where it can be locally abundant. It is a shrub up to 75 cm (28 inches) tall, forming large colonies. Leaves are rather thick, elliptical, densely hairy, up to 62 mm (2 1/2 inches) long. Vaccinium hirsutum produces white, cylindrical flowers in late spring, followed by hairy, black berries in the summer.