[3] Vaccinium angustifolium is a low spreading deciduous shrub growing 5 to 60 centimetres (2 to 23+1⁄2 in) tall.

[4] 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.

[citation needed] The leaves are glossy blue-green in summer, turning a variety of reds in the fall.

[6] The fruit is a small sweet dark blue to black berry, full of antioxidants and flavonoids.

[9][10] In its native habitat the plant grows in open conifer woods, old fields, and sandy or rocky balds.

[6] Many animals feed on the fruit and foliage of the lowbush berry, some of which include black bears, raccoons, foxes, white-tailed deer and birds.

[18] Traditionally, blueberry growers burn their fields every few years to eliminate shrubs and fertilize the soil.

[citation needed] Native Americans regularly burned away trees and shrubs in parts of eastern Maine to stimulate blueberry production.

During the harvest or fruit bearing year, blueberry growers rent honey bee hives to put in their fields for pollination.