Guide to Blueberries and Huckleberries (Vaccinium sp. and Gaylussacia sp.) North of the Pine Barrens

 I am not very experienced with unusual blueberries. This does not include Pine Barrens species.

The common highbush blueberry in central NJ is northern highbush blueberrry (V. corymbosum). It is generally taller than an adult, has spindly branches that can be green or red (or brown) and conspicuous red buds in winter. It has pale pink or white flowers and blue fruit, and the leaves do not have any resin dots but are minutely fringed on the edges. This is the blueberry sold in grocery stores. It often has blueberry stem galls, with a walnut-sized, lima-bean shaped growth that makes the stem bend at 90 degrees. Highbush blueberry grows in damp soil. 

The common short blueberry in the Watchungs is Blue Ridge blueberry (V. pallidum). It is often only knee high, not above waist high, grows in dry soil, has very narrow, often green branches that are not smooth, and has leaves that often lack teeth. The fruit are small and dark blue. 

The only other short blueberry is common lowbush (V. angustifolium). It always has teeth on the leaf edges and is never lighter below. Otherwise very like V. pallidum. Note that taller berry trees can be short when young or growing in adverse conditions. 

Tall or tallish blueberries and huckleberries in order of how common they are here:

    -northern highbush blueberry (V. corymbosum)

    -black huckleberry (G. baccata)

    -deerberry (V. stamineum)

    -dangleberry (G. frondosa)

How to separate the tall species: 

Flowers:

    -narrow (longer than wide) and white or pale pink: highbush

    -narrow (longer than wide) and dark pink/red: huckleberry

    -broad (wider than long), white, but still bell shaped, narrowed near tip: dangleberry

    -broad (wider than long), white, not bell shaped, spreading lobes: deerberry

Fruit:

    -stem not much longer than fruit, blue: highbush

    -stem not much longer than fruit, black: huckleberry 

    -stem much longer than fruit, fruit blue: dangleberry

    -stem much longer than fruit, an odd bluish green: deerberry 

Leaves: 

    -wide or narrow, with yellowish, sticky glands on both sides: dangleberry

    -not narrow, with yellowish, sticky glands only below: huckleberry 

    -not narrow, no glands, often widest below middle, with ciliate edge, can be toothed: highbush

    -not narrow, no glands, generally widest at middle, no teeth, no cillia on edge: deerberry

Buds:

    -red and round: highbush

    -red and sharp: huckleberry 

    -not red, but round: deerberry

    -not red, but pointed: dangleberry. 

Guide to Grapes, Creepers, and Porcelainberry (Vitaceae)(Vitis sp., Parthenocissus sp., and Ampelopsis glandulosa)

 In Vitaceae in New Jersey we have Parthenocissus (quinquefolia, inserta, tricuspidata), Ampelopsis (only glandulosa), and Vitis (aestivalis, labrusca, riparia, vulpina, and those planted in vineyards, which I ignore). 

P. tricuspidata is the only one with some leaves three parted. If all leaves are whole, then it's got smaller leaves and leathery and it grows by tendrils tipped in disks. It's also only here where planted, I've seen it spread away from the planting but never show up where there has never a reason to plant it there. But remember if seeing a winter vine on a building with disks it is possibly this (and not necessarily P. quinquefoila)

P. quinquefolia and P. inserta are tough to separate and often can't be in NJ. If disk-tipped tendrils are present it is P. quinquefolia, but their absence does not make it P. inserta. P inserta generally has shinier leaves with longer petiolules, but that is not enough to rule out P. quinquefolia. If the flowers or fruit are present, P. inserta always has dichotomous branching and P. quinquefolia always has a strong central stem (if zig-zagging) to the inflorescence. 

P. quinquefolia is far more likely to climb tree trunks than P. inserta. P. inserta generally cannot climb a flat wall at all. P. inserta is much more common in chain-link fences. 

Ampelopsis and the Vitis species are tough. Old Ampelopsis vines do not shred. Shredding bark is always Vitis. V. riparia does not have big "knuckles" at the attachment points of the tendrils. The other three grapes do. 

Be aware that very old Parthenocissus vines look like Toxicodendron vines (or Hedera vines) but with fewer, lighter, less branched rootlets (but still far more of them than I would expect, given a young vine to compare to). 

A. glandulosa has downy/somewhat hairy leaf stems and the newest part of twigs. A. glandulosa is never white or red below. A. glandulosa does not have teeth that are concave on the edges, as V. riparia does. A glandulosa does have big knuckles at all joints, unlike V. riparia (but similar to the vastly less common V. vulpina).

The fruit is key for separating Ampelopsis from Vitis, Ampelopsis flowers and fruit are in umbels, they never have a central stem. Vitis blooms earlier, has flower clusters visible generally from the moment of leaf unfurling, and those clusters always have a central stem (if zig-zagging). 

Grape leaves that are reddish or rusty-hairy below are always V. labrusca. 

Grape leaves that are white below are V. aestivalis if you can see the texture of the leaf veins below, and V. labrusca if the white wooliness conceals the texture of the underside leaf veins. V. aestivalis is much more common in my experience. 

If the grape is green below look at the teeth. V. riparia has concave edges to the leaf teeth, making them "sharper" looking. V. vulpina does not. V. riparia is vastly more common (or I'm mis-IDing a lot of V. vulpina, but I've heard V. riparia described as "abundant").

I have been told that Ampelopsis tendrils fork dichotomously (both halves the same length) and Vitis tendrils do not (one side longer, and more in a straight line with the tendril stem). I can't see it myself. 

Ampelopsis will climb kudzu-like over everything and smother it; Vitis does not (it tends to dangle below, and use trees far more than shrubs).

Guide to Hollies (Ilex spp.)

 In New Jersey there are two common hollies growing wild: American holly (I. opaca) and common winterberry (I.verticillata). There are two other wild hollies: smooth winterberry (I. laevigata) and inkberry (I. glabra), an escaped holly: Japanese holly (I. crenata), and garden, hybrid hollies (Ilex sp.)

Hollies with classic, prickly leaves are either American or hybrid. Generally non-American garden hollies do not escape, but they persist for a long time and so can appear to be wild. American holly will have more than two prickles on each side of the leaf and the leaves will not be particularly twisted. 

Japanese Holly is mostly a planted shrub but does sometimes escape and also persists in now-wild locations. It is more likely to be confused with box (Buxus sp.) than with any other holly, but it always has alternate leaves (box is opposite) and tiny teeth on the outer half of the leaf (box is entire). The leaves are tiny and evergreen, as in box. 

Inkberry is mostly found in very dry soil of the Pine Barrens and ridgetops. It is also often planted in landscaping. It has more elongated, evergreen leaves usually with only a few slight teeth at the tip, and black fruit. The leaves are always at least three times as long as wide. 

Winterberries are difficult to separate. Common is vastly more common in NJ than smooth, which may be confined to the coastal plain. Both have large deciduous leaves with fine teeth all along the edge and red fruit. 

Common winterberry has: branches roughly all the same length. Twigs sometimes hairy. Leaves mostly less than twice as long as wide. Leaves mostly widest above the middle. Leaves sometimes hairy below or even above. Leaves rugose (quilted looking). Leaves with most veins below very prominent. Leaves generally with sharp teeth. Fruit usually clustered in a way that looks whorled around stem. Fruit generally under 7mm. Fruit with stems clearly shorter than the width of the fruit.

Smooth winterberry has: some branches much longer and some much shorter than others. Twigs never hairy. Leaves mostly two to three times as long as wide. Leaves usualy widest at the middle. Leaves not quilted (rugose). Teeth sometimes appressed and sometimes rounded. Leaves usually smooth or with some hair on the veins below. Leaves with only a few veins prominent on the underside. Fruit generally singly in the leaf axils. Fruit generally over 7mm. Fruit stems generally about equal to the width of the fruit. 

Gallberry (Ilex glabra)

 

Japanese Holly (Ilex crenata)

 

Common Winterberry (Ilex verticillata)

 

American Holly (Ilex opaca)