It is an evergreen shrub with shiny dark green to bronze leaves.

[3][5] Creeping blueberries, although they are native to North America, do not seem to be most closely related to North American blueberries, but instead to South American Vaccinium species.

[5] Vaccinium crassifolium is native to the coastal plain of Georgia, the Carolinas, and southeastern Virginia, especially in pine barrens but also in disturbed settings like roadsides and other open areas.

[3][6][7] The leaves resemble bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi), and may be used in herbalism in its place.

[8] Vaccinium crassifolium has been cultivated since at least about 1787,[5] and several cultivars are available for planting as a ground cover in landscaping gardens.