Vaccinium macrocarpon

Fairly widespread as a native plant in northeastern North America (Kartesz 1999). Found in acidic soils and peatlands including bogs, fens, swamps, and interdunal swales (Vander Kloet 1988, Weakley 2000). Occasional in the main portion of its range (Haines and Vining 1988, Rhoads and Block 2000). Rare in the southern portion of its range along the Appalachians and the Southeastern coastal plain (Weakley 2000).

Native in northeastern North America from Newfoundland to southern Ontario and central Minnesota south to northern Illinois, northern Ohio, and central Indiana, and in the Appalachian mountains and along the coastal plain south to North Carolina (Vander Kloet 1988, Kartesz 1999, Weakley 2000). Occasionally escaped from cultivation in British Columbia, Washington, and northern California (Hitchcock and Cronquist 1974, Hickman 1997, Douglas et al. 1999). Also adventive along the eastern shore of Maryland (Vander Kloet 1988). Cultivated extensively in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Washington, and Oregon (Vander Kloet 1988). Introduced in Europe and thrives as an escape in Britain, Germany, Switzerland, and the Netherlands (Vander Kloet 1988).

Vaccinium macrocarpon occurs in very sensitive habitats, making it especially vulnerable to land-use conversion and habitat fragmentation, particularly the conversion of wetlands and bogs; bog succession in the southern Appalachians is a low-level threat (Southern Appalachian Species Viability Project 2002).