Vaccinium corymbosum explained

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.^[1]

Description

Vaccinium corymbosum is a deciduous shrub growing to 6- tall and wide. It is often found in dense thickets. The dark glossy green leaves are elliptical and up to 20NaN0 long. In autumn, the leaves turn to a brilliant red, orange, yellow, and/or purple.^{[2] [3]}

The flowers are long bell- or urn-shaped white to very light pink, NaNinches long.^{[2] [3]} The fruit is a blue-black berry with a NaNto diameter.

The species is tetraploid and does not self-pollinate.^[4] Most cultivars have a chilling requirement greater than 800 hours. Cytology is 2n = 48.^[5]

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.^{[6] [7]}

The plant is found in wooded or open habitats with moist acidic soils.^[8]

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.^[9]

Uses

The berries were collected and used in Native American cuisine in areas where V. corymbosum grew natively.^[10]

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. 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.

It is also cultivated as an ornamental plant for home and wildlife gardens and natural landscaping projects.^[11] The soil pH must be very acidic (4.5 to 5.5).

Cultivars

Some common cultivar varieties are listed here, grouped by approximate start of the harvest season:^[12]

Early Duke Patriot       Reka Spartan

Mid-Season Bluecrop       Blu-ray KaBluey Northland

Late Aurora Darrow Elliott Jersey Chandler

The cultivars Duke^[13] and Spartan^[14] 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.^{[15] [16]}

See also

• • Huckleberry

External links

• United States Department of Agriculture Plants Profile for Vaccinium corymbosum (highbush blueberry)
• Species account and photographs from Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center Native Plant Information Network (NPIN)

Notes and References

1. Book: Gough . Robert Edward . The highbush blueberry and its management . Psychology Press . 1994 . 3 . 2011-04-29 . 978-1-56022-021-3.
2. Vaccinium corymbosum. accessed 3.23.2013
3. http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=242417401 Flora of North America, Vaccinium corymbosum Linnaeus, 1753. High-bush blueberry, bleuet en corymbe
4. Book: Retamales. Jorge B.. Hancock. James F.. Blueberries: Volume 21 of Crop production science in horticulture. 2012. Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI). Cambridge, MA. 9781845938260. 2 & 39–42. 1st.
5. 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 . Nuclear DNA contents and ploidy levels of North American Vaccinium species and interspecific hybrids . Scientia Horticulturae . Elsevier BV . 297 . 2022 . 0304-4238 . 10.1016/j.scienta.2022.110955 . 110955. free .
6. http://bonap.net/MapGallery/County/Vaccinium%20corymbosum.png Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map
7. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=23573 Taxonomic account from Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) — for Vaccinium corymbosum (highbush blueberry)
8. http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/gardens-gardening/your-garden/plant-finder/plant-details/kc/m690/vaccinium-corymbosum.aspx Missouri Botanical Garden: Kemper Center for Home Gardening — Vaccinium corymbosum
9. Book: Niering . William A. . William Niering. Olmstead . Nancy C. . The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers, Eastern Region . 1985 . 1979. Knopf . 0-394-50432-1 . 509.
10. http://herb.umd.umich.edu/herb/search.pl?searchstring=Vaccinium+corymbosum University of Michigan at Dearborn — Native American Ethnobotany of Vaccinium corymbosum
11. http://www.hort.uconn.edu/plants/v/vaccor/vaccor1.html Hort.uconn.edu: Vaccinium corymbosum; Landscape use section
12. http://www.hort.uconn.edu/plants/v/vaccor/vaccor1.html Hort.uconn.edu: Vaccinium corymbosum; Cultivars/varieties section
13. Web site: RHS Plant Selector - Vaccinium corymbosum 'Duke'. 5 March 2021.
14. Web site: RHS Plant Selector - Vaccinium corymbosum 'Spartan'. 5 March 2021.
15. http://www.extension.org/pages/.../southern-highbush-blueberry-varieties eXtension: Southern Highbush Blueberry Varieties
16. http://www.fourwindsgrowers.com/pdfs/blueberry_information.pdf Four Winds Growers: Care of southern highbush blueberries