''Vaccinium'' is a common and widespread

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

shrub A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...

s or dwarf shrubs in the heath family (Ericaceae). The

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

s of many species are eaten by humans and some are of commercial importance, including the cranberry, blueberry,

bilberry Bilberries () are Eurasian low-growing shrubs in the genus ''Vaccinium'' in the flowering plant family Ericaceae that bear edible, dark blue berries. They resemble but are distinct from North American blueberries. The species most often referre ...

(whortleberry), lingonberry (cowberry), and

huckleberry Huckleberry is a name used in North America for several plants in the family Ericaceae, in two closely related genera: ''Vaccinium'' and ''Gaylussacia''. Nomenclature The name 'huckleberry' is a North American variation of the English dialectal ...

. Like many other heath plants, they are restricted to acidic soils.

Description

The plant structure varies between species: some trail along the ground, some are dwarf shrubs, and some are larger shrubs perhaps tall. Some tropical species are

epiphytic An epiphyte is a plant or plant-like organism that grows on the surface of another plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphyt ...

. 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. Inflorescences can be axillary or terminal. The

develops from an inferior ovary and is a four- or five-parted berry; it is usually brightly coloured, often 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.

Taxonomy

The genus was first described scientifically by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

in 1753. The name ''Vaccinium'' was used in

classical Latin Classical Latin is the form of Literary Latin recognized as a Literary language, literary standard language, standard by writers of the late Roman Republic and early Roman Empire. It formed parallel to Vulgar Latin around 75 BC out of Old Latin ...

for a plant, possibly the

or a hyacinth, and may be derived from the Latin ''bacca'', meaning berry, although its ultimate derivation is obscure. It is not the same word as ''Vaccinum'', which means "of or pertaining to cows". The

taxonomy image:Hierarchical clustering diagram.png, 280px, Generalized scheme of taxonomy Taxonomy is a practice and science concerned with classification or categorization. Typically, there are two parts to it: the development of an underlying scheme o ...

of the genus is complex and still under investigation. Genetic analyses indicate that the genus ''Vaccinium'' is not

monophyletic In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria: # the grouping contains its own most recent co ...

. A number of the Asian species are more closely related to ''

Agapetes ''Agapetes'' (Gk. ἀγαπητός (agapetos) = 'beloved') is a semi-climbing shrub genus native to the Himalayas, grown as an ornamental for its attractive pendulous bunches of red tubular flowers blooming over a long period. It is mostly grow ...

'' than to other ''Vaccinium'' species. 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''. Other parts of ''Vaccinium'' form other groups, sometimes together with species of other genera. 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 genera. Two

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

seeds of ''V. minutulum'' have been extracted from borehole samples of the

Middle Miocene The Middle Miocene is a sub-epoch of the Miocene epoch (geology), epoch made up of two Stage (stratigraphy), stages: the Langhian and Serravallian stages. The Middle Miocene is preceded by the Early Miocene. The sub-epoch lasted from 15.97 ± 0. ...

freshwater deposits in Nowy Sacz Basin, West Carpathians,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Subgenera

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. ''Oxycoccus'' **'' Vaccinium macrocarpon'' – American cranberry **'' Vaccinium oxycoccos'' – common cranberry **'' Vaccinium microcarpum'' – small bog cranberry *Sect. ''Oxycoccoides'' **'' Vaccinium erythrocarpum'' – southern mountain cranberry **'' Vaccinium japonicum'' – mountain blueberry ;Subgenus ''Vaccinium'': All the other species, with thicker, upright woody shoots and bell-shaped flowers. *Sect. ''Batodendron'' **'' Vaccinium arboreum'' – sparkleberry **'' Vaccinium crassifolium'' – creeping blueberry *Sect. ''Brachyceratium'' **'' Vaccinium dependens'' *Sect. ''Bracteata'' **'' Vaccinium acrobracteatum'' **'' Vaccinium barandanum'' **'' Vaccinium bracteatum'' **'' Vaccinium coriaceum'' **'' Vaccinium cornigerum'' **'' Vaccinium cruentum'' **'' Vaccinium hooglandii'' **'' Vaccinium horizontale'' **'' Vaccinium laurifolium'' **'' Vaccinium lucidum'' **'' Vaccinium myrtoides'' **'' Vaccinium phillyreoides'' **'' Vaccinium reticulatovenosum'' **'' Vaccinium sparsum'' **'' Vaccinium varingifolium'' *Sect. ''Ciliata'' **'' Vaccinium ciliatum'' **'' Vaccinium oldhamii'' - Japanese blueberry *Sect. ''Cinctosandra'' **'' Vaccinium exul'' *Sect. ''Conchophyllum'' **'' Vaccinium corymbodendron'' **'' Vaccinium delavayi'' **'' Vaccinium emarginatum'' **'' Vaccinium griffithianum'' **'' Vaccinium moupinense'' – Himalayan blueberry **'' Vaccinium neilgherrense'' **'' Vaccinium nummularia'' **'' Vaccinium retusum'' *Sect. ''Cyanococcus'' – typical North American blueberries **'' Vaccinium angustifolium'' – lowbush blueberry - also known as '' Vaccinium stenophyllum'' **'' Vaccinium boreale'' – northern blueberry **'' Vaccinium caesariense'' – New Jersey blueberry **'' Vaccinium corymbosum'' – highbush blueberry **'' Vaccinium darrowii'' – evergreen blueberry **'' Vaccinium elliottii'' – Elliott's blueberry **'' Vaccinium formosum'' **'' Vaccinium fuscatum'' – black highbush blueberry; syn. ''V. atrococcum'' **'' Vaccinium hirsutum'' **'' Vaccinium myrsinites'' – evergreen blueberry **'' Vaccinium myrtilloides'' – Canadian blueberry **'' Vaccinium pallidum'' Ait. – dryland blueberry; syn. ''V. vacillans'' Torr. **'' Vaccinium simulatum'' **'' Vaccinium tenellum'' **'' Vaccinium virgatum'' – rabbiteye blueberry; syn. ''V. ashei'' *Sect. ''Eococcus'' **'' Vaccinium fragile'' *Sect. ''Epigynium'' **'' Vaccinium vacciniaceum'' *Sect. ''Galeopetalum'' **'' Vaccinium chunii'' **'' Vaccinium dunalianum'' **'' Vaccinium glaucoalbum'' **'' Vaccinium sikkimense'' (may not be treated as a separate species from ''V. glaucoalbum'') **'' Vaccinium urceolatum'' *Sect. ''Hemimyrtillus'' **'' Vaccinium arctostaphylos'' **'' Vaccinium cylindraceum'' **'' Vaccinium hirtum'' **'' Vaccinium padifolium'' – Madeira blueberry **'' Vaccinium smallii'' *Sect. ''Koreanum'' **'' Vaccinium koreanum'' – Korean blueberry *Sect. ''Myrtillus'' (including sect. ''Macropelma'') – bilberries and relatives. Monophyly of this section has been confirmed by matK and nuclear ribosomal ITS sequence data. **'' Vaccinium calycinum'' Sm. – (

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

) **'' Vaccinium cereum'' (L.f.) Forst.f. – east Polynesian blueberry, Pacific blueberry **'' Vaccinium cespitosum'' – dwarf bilberry **'' Vaccinium deliciosum'' – Cascade bilberry, Cascade blueberry, blueleaf huckleberry **'' Vaccinium dentatum'' Sm. – (Hawaii) **'' Vaccinium membranaceum'' – square-twig blueberry, thinleaf huckleberry, tall huckleberry, big huckleberry, mountain huckleberry, " black huckleberry" **'' Vaccinium myrtillus'' – common bilberry, blue whortleberry, blaeberry, fraughan, hurtleberry **'' Vaccinium ovalifolium'' – Alaska blueberry, early blueberry, oval-leaf blueberry **'' Vaccinium parvifolium'' – red huckleberry ** Vaccinium praestans – '' krasnika'' (), Kamchatka bilberry **'' Vaccinium reticulatum'' – (Hawaii) **'' Vaccinium scoparium'' – grouse whortleberry, grouseberry, littleleaf huckleberry **'' Vaccinium shastense'' - Shasta huckleberry *Sect. ''Neurodesia'' **'' Vaccinium crenatum'' *Sect. ''Oarianthe'' **'' Vaccinium ambyandrum'' **'' Vaccinium cyclopense'' *Sect. ''Oreades'' **'' Vaccinium poasanum'' *Sect. ''Pachyanthum'' **'' Vaccinium fissiflorum'' *Sect. ''Polycodium'' **'' Vaccinium stamineum'' L. – deerberry; syn. ''V. caesium'' (eastern North America) (images) *Sect. ''Pyxothamnus'' **'' Vaccinium chihuahuense'' **'' Vaccinium confertum'' **'' Vaccinium consanguineum'' **'' Vaccinium corymbodendron'' **'' Vaccinium floribundum'' **'' Vaccinium meridionale'' **'' Vaccinium ovatum'' Pursh – California huckleberry (or evergreen huckleberry) (coastal western North America). First collected and described for western science by Meriwether Lewis. *Sect. ''Vaccinium'' **'' Vaccinium uliginosum'' L. – northern (or bog) bilberry (or blueberry); syn. ''V. occidentale'' (northern North America and Eurasia) *Sect. ''Vitis-idaea'' **'' Vaccinium vitis-idaea'' L. – partridgeberry, cowberry, redberry, red whortleberry, or lingonberry (northern North America and Eurasia)

Distribution and habitat

The genus contains about 450 species, which are found mostly in the cooler areas of the

Northern Hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined by humans as being in the same celestial sphere, celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the Solar ...

. However, there are tropical species from areas as widely separated as

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

and

. 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. Species are still being discovered in the

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

. Plants of this group typically require

acid An acid is a molecule or ion capable of either donating a proton (i.e. Hydron, hydrogen cation, H+), known as a Brønsted–Lowry acid–base theory, Brønsted–Lowry acid, or forming a covalent bond with an electron pair, known as a Lewis ...

ic 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. ''Vaccinium'' is found in both successional and stable sites, and it is fire-adapted in many regions, withstanding low-intensity burns, and re-sprouting from

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome ( ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and Shoot (botany), shoots from its Node (botany), nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from ...

s when above-ground tissues are burned off.

Ecology

''Vaccinium'' species are used as food plants by the larvae of a number of Lepidoptera (

butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

and

moth Moths are a group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not Butterfly, butterflies. They were previously classified as suborder Heterocera, but the group is Paraphyly, paraphyletic with respect to butterflies (s ...

) species. Berries of North American species nourish a variety of mammals and birds, notably including the grizzly bear.

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. It was spearheaded by Frederick Coville, who performed many cross-breeding trials and produced dozens of new blueberry cultivars. 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."

References

External links

''Vaccinium'' information from U.S. National Plant Germplasm SystemBritish Towns and Villages Network, ''Vaccinium''; Species of the Genus ''Vaccinium''
{{Authority control Ericaceae genera Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Subshrubs Taxa described in 1753