A blueberry generally a foot or two tall. The leaves are bright (yellowish) green with pink tinge in spring; dark green in summer; yellow, orange, or dark red in fall. Spreads by underground rhizomes to cover the ground. Has tiny white flowers in dense clusters in spring, which are pollinated by bumblebees and mining bees. The berries are small, but have far more flavor and aroma than the bigger blueberries from the store, which may come from Highbush Blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum) and its cultivars. The good flavor is shared by many half-high blueberries, which are hybrids of highbush and lowbush blueberry.

I grew the cultivar Lowbush Blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium 'Burgundy') (very dark red fall color) in a pot with pine bark mulch for several years, and it did well, aside from many of the buds being sunburnt and killed in winter. Transplanted to a bed in partial shade with about 8 inches of pine bark, where it grows with half-high blueberries, Lingonberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea) , and Wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens) .

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This is the state fruit of Maine.

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Produces half-inch diameter blueberries in mid-summer on low-spreading shrubs. Displays excellent crimson leaves in fall. Seems to like dry, acidic soil in full sun. Other than being slow growing, this plant's only fault is that deer like it.

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