Vaccinium L.

Blueberry

Ancient Latin name.

Shrubs and trees, sometimes with a stoloniferous rootstock. Leaves alternate. Flowers either in clusters or solitary. Sepals 4-5 fused together. Petals 4-5 fused to form a cylindrical or urn-shaped tube, mostly white. Stamens 8 or 10, elongated and opening by holes, sometimes with an awn. Ovary with 4-5 chambers. Fruit a berry.

The genus is relatively rare in cultivation. A key to some of the few species cultivated is given below; only the blueberry, V. corymbosum is described.

Vaccinium angustifolium, V. corymbosum, V. ashei and V. myrtilloides are a commercial source of blueberries in Canada and the USA; the major source is V. corymbosum which has a range of cultivars. The two major species marketed as cranberries are V. macrocarpon in America and V. vitis-idaea in Europe.

Division, layering or cuttings.

About 450 species of the northern hemisphere with centres of distribution in N America and Malesia.

Source: Davidson, B.; Craven, L.; Malone, R.; Davidson, R.; Wilson, J.; Spencer, R. (1997). Rhododendron. In: Spencer, R.. Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 2. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 1. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.

kingdom Plantae
phylum   Tracheophyta
class    Magnoliopsida
superorder     Asteranae
order      Ericales
family       Ericaceae
Higher taxa
Subordinate taxa
species         Vaccinium corymbosum L.