Abstract
Ten colonies of Vaccinium darrowi Camp were sampled at each of 9 sites in the Florida panhandle and 6 sites in and around the Ocala National Forest in the central Florida peninsula. The colonies averaged 53 cm tall in the panhandle, with leaves 9.8 mm long and 4.1 mm wide. By contrast, colonies in the peninsula averaged 136 cm tall—well outside the range described for the species—with leaves 12.7 mm long and 5.7 mm wide. The species was diploid and entirely evergreen in both regions. In the central Florida peninsula, natural hybrids between V. darrowi and a 3-m tall, deciduous, diploid race of highbush blueberry (V. corymbosum L.) are common where streams and lakes border the dry scrub habitat of V. darrowi. The robust form of V. darrowi in the Florida peninsula may have evolved from the petite form in the panhandle as a result of introgression from the highbush coupled with selection for characteristics that enhance survival on the deep, xeric sands of the peninsula. V. darrowi from the central peninsula has characteristics that make it valuable in breeding blueberry cultivars.