Vaccinium crenulatum Dunal, Prodr. 7: 570. 1839. Metagonia crenulata (Dunal) Nuttall, Trans. Amer. Phil. Soc. N.S. 8: 266. 1843. Type. Peru. Amazonas: Chachapoyas, Mathews s.n. (holotype, G? n.v.)Terrestrial shrub to dwarf, procumbent or scandent subshrub, 0.2-2.5(-3.5) m tall, sometimes arising from lignotubers to 10 cm diam.; stem terete, rugose, sometimes "warty" from swollen nodes of fallen leaves, glabrous; twigs subterete to angled, or bluntly angled, striate to ribbed, glabrous to densely short, white pilose or cinereous. Leaves coriaceous, elliptic, ovate, to ovate-lanceolate, 9-22 x 4-11 mm, base cuneate to rounded, sometimes short-attentuate, apex rounded to acute, margin minutely crenate-serrate, each tooth terminating in a short, glandular hair, glabrous to minutely puberulent above or along margins or midrib proximally, usually minutely glandular-fimbriate beneath, midrib and other nerves and margins often lighter color beneath; pinnately nerved with 3-5 lateral nerves per side but these usually obscure, reticulate veinlets slightly raised on both surfaces or impressed above and raised beneath; petiole subterete, flattened above, ca. 2 mm long, short-pilose. Inflorescence axillary, racemose, 6-10-flowered; rachis subterete, angled, striate, to 1.5 cm long, glabrous to puberulent; floral bract deciduous, membranous, broadly elliptic to ovate, margin usually curved inwards, acute to rounded, 3-4.3 mm long, margin glandular-fimbriate distally; pedicel subterete, angled, striate, 1.8-5.5 mm long, glabrous to short-pilose; bracteoles nearly basal, similar to floral bract, nearly half as long as pedicel at anthesis, ca. 2.5-3 mm long. Flowers 4-5-merous (sometimes on same plant), with calyx articulate, ca. 3-4 mm long; hypanthium cylindric, ca. 1.3-2 mm long, glabrous to densely short-pilose, green to purplish, often heavily suffused with pink to red; limb erect-spreading, ca. (1.2-)1.8-2.2 mm long, glabrous; lobes triangular-ovate, acute or rarely obtuse, (0.8-)1-1.5 mm long, glabrous; sinuses acute; corolla cylindric, (5.5-)6-8 mm long, glabrous, white to pink or red, the lobes ovate-oblong, obtuse, ca. 1.5 mm long; stamen (5-)10, nearly as long as corolla, 3.8-6 mm long; filaments distinct, 2.3-3 mm long, glabrous or weakly to densely short-pilose; anthers 2.2-3.4 mm long; thecae 1-1.3 mm long, sometimes bearing 2 short spurs dorsally; tubules 1.2-2.1 mm long, dehiscing by oblique pores; style about as long as corolla, glabrous. Berry spherical, 5-8 mm diam., blue-black, glabrous, sometimes glaucous.Vaccinium marginatum Dunal, Prodr. 7: 570. 1839. Metagonia marginata (Dunal) Nuttall, Trans. Amer. Phil. Soc. N.S. 8: 266. 1843. Vaccinium floribundum Kunth var. marginatum (Dunal) Sleumer, Notizbl. Bot. Gart. Berlin-Dahlem 13: 131. 1936. Type. Peru. Amazonas: Chachapoyas, Mathews s.n. (holotype, G; possible isotype, M n.v., photo M type F neg. 20042).
Vaccinium ramosissimum Dunal, Prodr. 7: 571. 1839. Vaccinium floribundum Kunth var. ramosissimum (Dunal) Sleumer, Notizbl. Bot. Gart. Berlin-Dahlem 13: 131. 1936. Type. Peru: Pillao, Ruiz & Pavón anno 1787 (holotype, G, photo F neg. 7025; isotypes, B†, MA, NY, NY fragment ex P, P, US).
Vaccinium polystachyum Bentham, Pl. hartweg. 140. 1844. Vaccinium floribundum Kunth var. ? polystachyum (Benth.) Wedd., Chlor. And. 2: 177. 1857. Type. Ecuador. Loja: Cordillera near Loja, Jul (fl), Hartweg 782 (holotype, K, fragment, NY; isotypes, B†, NY, P; photo of B type F neg. 4619).
Vaccinium mortinia Bentham, Pl. hartweg. 221. 1846. Type. Ecuador. Pichincha: Near Lloa Chiquito, Hda. de Chisiuche, Páramo de Tiopullo, Hartweg 1212* (holotype, K).
Vaccinium moritzianum Klotzsch var. ? ovatum Klotzsch, Linnaea 24: 63. 1851. Type. Ecuador. Tungurahua: Mount Tungurahua, 400-500 m, Hall s.n. (holotype, K ? n.v.).
Vaccinium mortizianum Klotzsch var. ? oblongum Klotzsch, Linnaea 24: 63. 1851. Type. Colombia: Sierra Nevada de Colombia, Moritz 1341 (holotype, B†,n.v.).
Vaccinium dasygynum S. F. Blake, J. Washington Acad. Sci. 14: 289. 1924. Type. Ecuador: Vicinity of Nabón, 25 Sep 1918 (fl), Rose et al. 23017 (holotype, US; isotype, GH, NY).
Distribution. Costa Rica (?), Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru; lower montane dry forest, premontane dry forest, montane moist to wet forest, montane cloud forest, subpáramo thickets, grass and Espeletia páramo, to superpáramo, at 1400-4350 m altitude.
Local names: Ecuador: manzanilla del cerro, mortiño, raspadura quemado.
Uses: Ecuador: fruit sold in local markets and often in cities, epecially in early November for the beverage "colada morada"; fruit cooked as a sweet; wood for fuel. Seemingly fire resistent and often sprouting vigorously after fire.
Cultivated: E, NCSC.
