The plant structure varies between species: some trail along the ground, some are
dwarf shrubs, and some are larger shrubs perhaps 1 to 2 metres (3 to 7 feet) tall. Some tropical species are
epiphytic.[4] Stems are usually woody. Flowers are
epigynous with fused petals, and have long styles that protrude from their bell-shaped corollas. Stamens have anthers with extended tube-like structures called "awns" through which pollen falls when mature.[5] Inflorescences can be axillary or terminal. The
fruit develops from an inferior ovary, and is a four- or five-parted
berry; it is usually brightly coloured, often being red or bluish with purple juice. Roots are commonly
mycorrhizal, which likely help the plants to access nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus in the acidic, nutrient-poor soils they inhabit.[4]
Taxonomy
The genus was first described scientifically by
Carl Linnaeus in 1753.[1] The name Vaccinium was used in
classical Latin for a plant, possibly the
bilberry or a
hyacinth, and may be derived from the Latin bacca, berry, although its ultimate derivation is obscure.[6][7] It is not the same word as Vaccinum "of or pertaining to
cows".[8]
The
taxonomy of the genus is complex, and still under investigation. Genetic analyses indicates that the genus Vaccinium is not
monophyletic.[9] A number of the Asian species are more closely related to Agapetes than to other Vaccinium species.[9][10] A second group includes most of Orthaea and Notopora, at least some of Gaylussacia (huckleberry), and a number of species from Vaccinium, such as V. crassifolium.[9] Other parts of Vaccinium form other groups, sometimes together with species of other genera.[9] The taxonomy of Vaccinium can either be resolved by enlarging the genus to include the entirety of the tribe
Vaccinieae, or by breaking the genus up into several different genera.[9]
A classification predating
molecular phylogeny divides Vaccinium into subgenera, and several sections:
Subgenus Oxycoccus
The
cranberries, with slender, trailing, wiry non-woody shoots and strongly reflexed flower petals. Some botanists treat Oxycoccus as a distinct genus.
Sect. Myrtillus (including sect. Macropelma) –
bilberries and relatives. Monophyly of this section has been confirmed by matK and nuclear ribosomal ITS sequence data.[9]
Vaccinium ovatumPursh – California huckleberry (or evergreen huckleberry) (coastal western North America). First collected and described for western science by Meriwether Lewis.[17]
Sect. Vaccinium
Vaccinium uliginosumL. – northern (or bog) bilberry (or blueberry); syn. V. occidentale (northern North America and Eurasia)
Sect. Vitis-idaea
Vaccinium vitis-idaeaL. – partridgeberry, cowberry, redberry, red whortleberry, or lingonberry (northern North America and Eurasia)
Distribution and habitat
The genus contains about 450 species,[18] which are found mostly in the cooler areas of the
Northern Hemisphere, although there are tropical species from areas as widely separated as
Madagascar and
Hawaii. The genus is distributed worldwide except for Australia and Antarctica, but areas of great Vaccinium diversity include the montane regions of North and South America, as well as Southeast Asia.[4][19] Species are still being discovered in the Andes.[20]
Plants of this group typically require
acidic soils, and as wild plants they live in habitats such as
heath,
bog and acidic
woodland (for example, blueberries under oaks or pines). Blueberry plants are commonly found in
oak-heath forests in eastern North America.[21][22]Vaccinium is found in both successional and stable sites, and is fire-adapted in many regions, withstanding low-intensity burns, and re-sprouting from
rhizomes when above-ground tissues are burned off.[4]
Ecology
Vaccinium species are used as food plants by the
larvae of a number of
Lepidoptera (
butterfly and
moth) species. Berries of North American species nourish a variety of mammals and birds, notably including the
grizzly bear.[4][23]
Cultivation
Blueberries (sect. Cyanococcus) and
cranberries (sect. Oxycoccus) are relatively newly cultivated plants, and are largely unchanged from their wild relatives. Genetic breeding of blueberries began around the turn of the 20th century, and was spearheaded by Frederick Coville who performed many cross-breeding trials and produced dozens of new blueberry cultivars.[24] He often tested new cultivars for their flavor, claiming after a long day of tasting that "all blueberries taste the same, and all taste sour."[24]
^
abcdeVander Kloet, Samuel P. (1988). The Genus Vaccinium in North America. Ottawa, Canada: Research Branch, Agriculture Canada.
^Palser, Barbara F. (1961-12-01). "Studies of Floral Morphology in the Ericales. V. Organography and Vascular Anatomy in Several United States Species of the Vacciniaceae". Botanical Gazette. 123 (2): 79–111.
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10.1086/336134.
ISSN0006-8071.
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^Hyam, R. & Pankhurst, R.J. (1995). Plants and their names : a concise dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
ISBN978-0-19-866189-4. p. 515.
^Coombes, Allen J. (1994). Dictionary of Plant Names. London: Hamlyn Books.
ISBN978-0-600-58187-1. p. 187.
^P.G.W. Glare, ed. (1996). Oxford Latin Dictionary. p. 2000.
ISBN0-19-864224-5.
^
abcdefKathleen A. Kron; E. Ann Powell; J. L. Luteyn (2002). "Phylogenetic relationships within the blueberry tribe (Vaccinieae, Ericaceae) based on sequence data from MATK and nuclear ribosomal ITS regions, with comments on the placement of Satyria". American Journal of Botany. 89 (2): 327–336.
doi:
10.3732/ajb.89.2.327.
PMID21669741.
^Łańcucka-Środoniowa M.: Macroscopic plant remains from the freshwater Miocene of the Nowy Sącz Basin (West Carpathians, Poland) [Szczątki makroskopowe roślin z miocenu słodkowodnego Kotliny Sądeckiej (Karpaty Zachodnie, Polska)]. Acta Palaeobotanica 1979 20 (1): 3-117.
^Pedraza-Peñalosa, Paola; Luteyn, James L. (2011-06-01). "Andean Vaccinium (Ericaceae: Vaccinieae): Seven new species from South America". Brittonia. 63 (2): 257–275.
doi:
10.1007/s12228-010-9164-y.
ISSN1938-436X.
S2CID40949853.
^Schafale, M. P. & Weakley, A. S. (1990). Classification of the natural communities of North Carolina: third approximation. North Carolina Natural Heritage Program, North Carolina Division of Parks and Recreation.
^Mace, R. D., & Jonkel, C. J. (1986). "Local food habits of the grizzly bear in Montana". Bears: Their Biology and Management. 6: 105–110.
doi:
10.2307/3872813.
JSTOR3872813.{{
cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link)
^
abCoville, F. V. (1910). Experiments in Blueberry Culture. US Government Printing Office.