Vaccinium cespitosum
Dwarf bilberry
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Family: Ericaceae · Type: Shrub · Native
Vaccinium cespitosum (Dwarf bilberry) is a native California shrub in the Ericaceae family, recognized by prostrate habit, small leaves, and smaller fruits.
Dwarf bilberry is a California native shrub found in northwestern California (excluding North Coast Ranges Interior), the high Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, Central Coast, San Francisco Bay Area, and Warner Mountains in wet meadow margins and mountain slopes at elevations up to 3,400 meters. Flowering from May to July, this plant produces white to pink flowers less than 6 millimeters long in narrow urn-shaped clusters. Growing as a low shrub with prostrate to erect stems up to 50 centimeters tall, it has rhizomes and generally green, hairy twigs. Its deciduous leaves are 1 to 3 centimeters long, oblong to elliptic with minutely serrated edges and glandular undersides. The fruit is blue-glaucous and less than 9 millimeters wide.
Identification and appearance
Key characters: 9 sympatric species; key features are prostrate habit, small leaves, and smaller fruits
Habitat and range
Habitat: Margins of wet meadows, mountain slopes
Elevation: < 3400 m
California counties: Plumas, Alpine, Fresno, Humboldt, El Dorado, Tulare, Tuolumne, Inyo, Siskiyou, San Mateo, Sierra, Modoc, Madera, Nevada, Mono, Trinity, Butte, Lassen, Mariposa, Shasta, Sonoma, Del Norte, Marin, Tehama, Placer, Amador
Outside California: to Alaska, Montana, also northeastern United States, adjacent Canada
Bloom period
Vaccinium cespitosum blooms May-Jul.
Frequently asked questions
Is Vaccinium cespitosum native to California?
Yes. Vaccinium cespitosum is native to California (recorded as native).
When does Vaccinium cespitosum bloom?
Vaccinium cespitosum blooms May-Jul.
Where in California does Vaccinium cespitosum grow?
Vaccinium cespitosum occurs in Plumas, Alpine, Fresno, Humboldt, El Dorado, Tulare, Tuolumne, Inyo and other counties, at elevations of < 3400 m.
What plant family does Vaccinium cespitosum belong to?
Vaccinium cespitosum is in the Ericaceae family, genus Vaccinium.
What habitat does Vaccinium cespitosum grow in?
Vaccinium cespitosum grows in Margins of wet meadows, mountain slopes.
Related species
Other California species in the same genus, family, or bioregion.
Sources: Jepson eFlora · Index of California Plant Names · CalPhotos
Last updated 2026-10-07
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Cal-IPC, and more.