The plant structure varies between species: some trail along the ground, some aredwarf shrubs, and some are larger shrubs perhaps 1 to 2 metres (3 to 7 feet) tall. Some tropical species areepiphytic.[4] Stems are usually woody. Flowers areepigynous 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. Thefruit develops from an inferior ovary and is a four- or five-partedberry; it is usually brightly coloured, often red or bluish with purple juice. Roots are commonlymycorrhizal, which likely help the plants to access nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus in the acidic, nutrient-poor soils they inhabit.[4]
The genus was first described scientifically byCarl Linnaeus in 1753.[1] The nameVaccinium was used inclassical Latin for a plant, possibly thebilberry or ahyacinth, and may be derived from the Latinbacca, meaning berry, although its ultimate derivation is obscure.[6][7] It is not the same word asVaccinum, which means "of or pertaining tocows".[8]
Thetaxonomy of the genus is complex and still under investigation. Genetic analyses indicate that the genusVaccinium is notmonophyletic.[9] A number of the Asian species are more closely related toAgapetes than to otherVaccinium species.[9][10] A second group includes most ofOrthaea andNotopora, at least some ofGaylussacia (huckleberry), and a number of species fromVaccinium, such asV. crassifolium.[9] Other parts ofVaccinium form other groups, sometimes together with species of other genera.[9] The taxonomy ofVaccinium can either be resolved by enlarging the genus to include the entirety of the tribeVaccinieae or by breaking the genus up into several genera.[9]
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)
The genus contains about 450 species,[18] which are found mostly in the cooler areas of theNorthern Hemisphere. However, there are tropical species from areas as widely separated asMadagascar andHawaii. The genus is distributed worldwide except for Australia and Antarctica, but areas of greatVaccinium diversity include the montane regions of North and South America, as well as Southeast Asia.[4][19] Species are still being discovered in theAndes.[20]
Plants of this group typically requireacidic soils, and as wild plants, they live in habitats such asheath,bog and acidicwoodland (for example, blueberries under oaks or pines). Blueberry plants are commonly found inoak-heath forests in eastern North America.[21][22]Vaccinium is found in both successional and stable sites, and it is fire-adapted in many regions, withstanding low-intensity burns, and re-sprouting fromrhizomes when above-ground tissues are burned off.[4]
Vaccinium species are used as food plants by thelarvae of a number ofLepidoptera (butterfly andmoth) species. Berries of North American species nourish a variety of mammals and birds, notably including thegrizzly bear.[4][23]
Blueberries (sect. Cyanococcus) andcranberries (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.[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.doi:10.1086/336134.ISSN0006-8071.S2CID85148687.
^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 ofSatyria".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.
^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.
