Vaccinium angustifolium, commonly known as the wild lowbush blueberry, is a species of blueberry native to eastern and central Canada (from Manitoba to Newfoundland) and the northeastern United States, growing as far south as the Great Smoky Mountains and west to the Great Lakes region. Vaccinium angustifolium is the most common species of the commercially used wild blueberries and is considered the "low sweet" berry. Etymology The species epithet angustifolium is a combination of the Latin words meaning 'narrow', and meaning 'leaf'. Description Vaccinium angustifolium is a low spreading deciduous shrub growing tall. Its rhizomes can lie dormant up to 100 years, and when given the adequate amount of sunlight, soil moisture, and oxygen content they will sprout. The leaves are glossy blue-green in summer, turning a variety of reds in the fall. The leaf shape is broad to elliptical. Buds are brownish red in stem axils. The flowers are white or pink, bell-shaped, long. The fruit is a small sweet dark blue to black berry, full of antioxidants and flavonoids. This plant grows best in wooded areas, old abandoned farmyards or open areas with well-drained acidic soils. In some areas it produces natural blueberry barrens, where it is practically the only species covering large areas. Several buds may be on a healthy stem, and each bud can open up and have several blossoms. A blueberry field that has full plant coverage can have as many as 150 million blossoms per acre. The Vaccinium angustifolium plant is fire-tolerant, and its numbers often increase in an area following a forest fire. Traditionally, blueberry growers burn their fields every few years to eliminate shrubs and fertilize the soil. In Acadian French, a blueberry field is known as a (from 'burnt') because of that technique, which is still in use. Distribution and habitat The lowbush blueberry is native to central and eastern Canada as well as north-central and eastern United States. In its native habitat the plant grows in open conifer woods, old fields, and sandy or rocky balds. Geographical change Glacier ice from the Ice Age sculpted the Maine landscape and is responsible for creating some of the most productive Vaccinium angustifolium habitat. Ecology Many animals feed on the fruit and foliage of the lowbush berry, some of which include black bears, racoons, foxes, white-tailed deer and birds. Its leaves are also popular among caterpillars. It is a larval host to the