FIELD ID CHARACTERISTICS:
Rubbing the leaf undersides on paper will turn it yellow, from the yellow resinous glands. Berries are edible.
Synonym(s): Decachaena frondosa
Description: Deciduous, low-growing shrub, usually 1 m tall or less.
Leaves: Alternate, simple, oval-shaped, entire leaves with short petioles. Leaves pale grayish-green beneath, can be smooth or pubescent. Tiny yellow resinous dots only on underside.
Flowers/Fruit: Racemes with greenish-white to pinkish urn-shaped flowers and usually 2 branchlets. Edible berries are green, ripening to dark blue or black. Blooms late March to May; fruits June to August.
Habit and Range: Moist acidic woodlands, especially sandhill pocosins and pine savanna-pocosin edges. Uncommon in the Piedmont, but common in the Coastal Plain, especially southeast.
COMMON CONFUSIONS:
Vaccinium species (blueberries) have darker leaves that lack the tiny yellow resinous dots that Gaylussacia frondosa leaves have.
Click here to view Vaccinium corymbosum.
Link to side-by-side comparisons page
