Vaccinium uliginosum (bog bilberry,bog blueberry,[3]alpine blueberry orwestern blueberry) is an edible Eurasian and North Americanflowering plant in the heath familyEricaceae.[4][5]
Vaccinium uliginosum is a smalldeciduous shrub growing to 10–75 centimetres (4–29+1⁄2 inches) tall, rarely1 metre (3+1⁄2 feet) tall, with brown stems (unlike the green stems of the closely relatedbilberry). Theleaves are oval,4–30 millimetres (1⁄8–1+1⁄8 in) long and2–15 mm (1⁄16–9⁄16 in) wide, blue-green with pale net-like veins, with a smooth margin and rounded apex.[6]
Theflowers are pendulous, urn-shaped, pale pink,4–6 mm (3⁄16–1⁄4 in) long, produced in mid-spring. Thefruit is a dark blue-blackberry5–8 mm (3⁄16–5⁄16 in) in diameter, with a white sweet flesh, ripe in late summer.[6] Cytology is 2n = 24.[7] Its fruitpersists for an average of 26.1 days, and bears an average of 24.7 seeds per fruit. Fruits average 86.8% water, and theirdry weight includes 38.4%carbohydrates and 3.9%lipids.[8]
Two subspecies have been described, but not all authorities distinguish them. Only the nominate subspecies ofVaccinium uliginosum subsp.uliginosum is relatively widely accepted:[2][6]
It grows on wetacidic soils onheathland,moorland,tundra,[14] and in the understory ofconiferous forests, from sea level in the Arctic, up to 3,400 m (11,200 ft) altitude in the south of the range.
V. uliginosum can survive long, severe climatic oscillations.[15][16]
^Kartesz, John T. (2014)."Vaccinium uliginosum".State-level distribution map from the North American Plant Atlas (NAPA). Biota of North America Program (BONAP).
Blamey, M.; Grey-Wilson, C. (1989).Flora of Britain and Northern Europe. Hodder & Stoughton.
Ehrlén, Johan; Eriksson, Ove (1991). "Phenological variation in fruit characteristics in vertebrate-dispersed plants".Oecologia.86 (4):463–470.doi:10.1007/BF00318311.ISSN0029-8549.
