Sikkim blueberry

Vaccinium sikkimense is a small, rather rigid, evergreen shrub, reaching up to 1 metre (3+1⁄2 feet) in height. Its leaves are pointed oval in shape, hairless, somewhat leathery, toothed, and about 2.5 centimetres (1 inch) long. They are densely arranged on the stems. In July, pink flowers are produced in axillary and terminal clusters, which have pink bracts. The corolla is about 5 millimetres (1⁄4 in) long. The blue-black fruits ripen in August and September.

Vaccinium sikkimense is distributed from the eastern Himalayas, through northeast Nepal and southeast Tibet into western South Central China and northwest Myanmar (Burma). It has not been recorded from either Bhutan or Arunachal Pradesh, giving it a disjunct distribution. It was originally collected at an altitude of 4,000 m (13,000 ft), and was later collected at around 3,600 m (11,800 ft) in open woodland.

The species was collected by several of the early pioneers of botanical collecting in the Himalayas, including George Forrest, Joseph Rock and Frank Kingdon-Ward. Of these, only Kingdon-Ward appears to have introduced living material to cultivation, in 1931 and 1953. It was collected again and brought into cultivation in 1981, by Tony Schilling. A hardy ornamental shrub, it remains rare in cultivation, although grown in public gardens in several parts of Great Britain.