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Vaccinium corymbosum

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Vaccinium corymbosum
Leaves and berries
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Ericales
Family: Ericaceae
Genus: Vaccinium
Species:
V. corymbosum
Binomial name
Vaccinium corymbosum
L. 1753
Synonyms[1]
  • Cyanococcus corymbosus (L.) Rydb.
  • Vaccinium albiflorum Hook.

Vaccinium corymbosum, the northern highbush blueberry, is a North American species of blueberry. Other common names include blue huckleberry, tall huckleberry, swamp huckleberry, high blueberry, and swamp blueberry.[2]

Description

Vaccinium corymbosum is a deciduous shrub growing to 1.8–3.7 metres (6–12 ft) tall and wide. It is often found in dense thickets. The dark glossy green leaves are elliptical and up to 5 centimetres (2 in) long. In autumn, the leaves turn to a brilliant red, orange, yellow, and/or purple.[3][4]

The flowers are long bell- or urn-shaped white to very light pink, 8.5 of an millimetres (1⁄3 in) long.[3][4] The fruit is a blue-black berry with a 6.4-to-12.7 mm (1⁄4-to-1⁄2 in) diameter.[3]

The species is tetraploid and does not self-pollinate.[5] Most cultivars have a chilling requirement greater than 800 hours. Cytology is 2n = 48.[6]

  • Foliage
    Foliage
  • Young shrub with fruit
    Young shrub with fruit
  • Mature shrub
    Mature shrub
  • Flowers
    Flowers
  • Berries, ripe and unripe
    Berries, ripe and unripe
  • Berry close-up
    Berry close-up
  • Autumn leaves
    Autumn leaves

Distribution and habitat

It is native to eastern Canada and the eastern and southern United States, from Ontario east to Nova Scotia and south as far as Florida and eastern Texas. It is also naturalized in other places including Europe, Japan, New Zealand, and the North American Pacific Northwest.[7][8][3][9]

The plant is found in wooded or open habitats with moist acidic soils.[4][10]

Ecology

In natural habitats, the berries are a food source for native and migrating birds, bears, and small mammals. The foliage is browsed by deer and rabbits.[11]

Uses

The berries were collected and used in Native American cuisine in areas where V. corymbosum grew natively.[12]

Many wild species of Vaccinium are thought to have been cultivated by Native Americans for thousands of years, with intentional crop burnings in northeastern areas being apparent from archeological evidence.[5] V. corymbosum, being one of the species likely used by these peoples, was later studied and domesticated in 1908 by Elizabeth Coleman White and Frederick Vernon Coville. It went on to become the most common commercially grown blueberry in North America.[citation needed]

It is also cultivated as an ornamental plant for home and wildlife gardens and natural landscaping projects.[10][13] The soil pH must be very acidic (4.5 to 5.5).[3]

Cultivars

Some common cultivar varieties are listed here, grouped by approximate start of the harvest season:[14]

Early
  • Duke
  • Patriot      
  • Reka
  • Spartan
Mid-Season
  • Bluecrop      
  • Blu-ray
  • KaBluey
  • Northland
Late

The cultivars Duke[15] and Spartan[16] have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

Southern highbush blueberry

Some named Southern highbush blueberry are hybridized forms derived from crosses between V. corymbosum and V. darrowii, a native of the Southeastern U.S. These hybrids and other cultivars of V. darrowii (Southern highbush blueberry) have been developed for cultivation in warm southern and western regions of North America.[17][18]

See also

References

  1. ^ The Plant List, Vaccinium corymbosum L.
  2. ^ Gough, Robert Edward (1994). The highbush blueberry and its management. Psychology Press. p. 3. ISBN 978-1-56022-021-3. Retrieved 2011-04-29.
  3. ^ a b c d e Vaccinium corymbosum. accessed 3.23.2013
  4. ^ a b c Flora of North America, Vaccinium corymbosum Linnaeus, 1753. High-bush blueberry, bleuet en corymbe
  5. ^ a b Retamales, Jorge B.; Hancock, James F. (2012). Blueberries: Volume 21 of Crop production science in horticulture (1st ed.). Cambridge, MA: Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI). pp. 2 & 39–42. ISBN 9781845938260.
  6. ^ Redpath, Lauren E.; Aryal, Rishi; Lynch, Nathan; Spencer, Jessica A.; Hulse-Kemp, Amanda M.; Ballington, James R.; Green, Jaimie; Bassil, Nahla; Hummer, Kim; Ranney, Thomas; Ashrafi, Hamid (2022). "Nuclear DNA contents and ploidy levels of North American Vaccinium species and interspecific hybrids". Scientia Horticulturae. 297. Elsevier BV: 110955. doi:10.1016/j.scienta.2022.110955. ISSN 0304-4238.
  7. ^ Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map
  8. ^ Taxonomic account from Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) — for Vaccinium corymbosum (highbush blueberry)
  9. ^ "Vaccinium corymbosum". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 2017-12-15.
  10. ^ a b Missouri Botanical Garden: Kemper Center for Home Gardening — Vaccinium corymbosum. accessed 3.23.2013
  11. ^ Niering, William A.; Olmstead, Nancy C. (1985) [1979]. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers, Eastern Region. Knopf. p. 509. ISBN 0-394-50432-1.
  12. ^ University of Michigan at Dearborn — Native American Ethnobotany of Vaccinium corymbosum Archived 2013-05-29 at the Wayback Machine. accessed 9.9.2015
  13. ^ Hort.uconn.edu: Vaccinium corymbosum; Landscape use section Archived 2013-03-27 at the Wayback Machine. accessed 3.23.2013
  14. ^ Hort.uconn.edu: Vaccinium corymbosum; Cultivars/varieties section Archived 2013-03-27 at the Wayback Machine. accessed 3.23.2013
  15. ^ "RHS Plant Selector - Vaccinium corymbosum 'Duke'". Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  16. ^ "RHS Plant Selector - Vaccinium corymbosum 'Spartan'". Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  17. ^ eXtension: Southern Highbush Blueberry Varieties[permanent dead link‍]
  18. ^ Four Winds Growers: Care of southern highbush blueberries
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