''Vaccinium corymbosum'', the northern highbush blueberry, is a North American species of blueberry which has become a food crop of significant economic importance. It is native to eastern Canada and the eastern and southern United States, from

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

east to

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

and south as far as

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

and eastern

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. It is also naturalized in other places: Europe, Japan, New Zealand, the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Tho ...

of North America, etc.''Vaccinium corymbosum''. accessed 3.23.2013 Other common names include blue huckleberry, tall huckleberry, swamp huckleberry, high blueberry, and swamp blueberry.

Description

''Vaccinium corymbosum'' is a

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, ...

shrub growing to tall and wide. It is often found in dense thickets. The dark glossy green

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

are elliptical and up to long. In autumn, the leaves turn to a brilliant red, orange, yellow, and/or purple.Flora of North America, ''Vaccinium corymbosum'' Linnaeus, 1753. High-bush blueberry, bleuet en corymbe
/ref> The

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s are long bell- or urn-shaped white to very light pink, long. The

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

is a diameter blue-black berry. This plant is found in wooded or open areas with moist acidic soils.Missouri Botanical Garden: Kemper Center for Home Gardening — ''Vaccinium corymbosum''
. accessed 3.23.2013 The species is

tetraploid Polyploidy is a condition in which the cells of an organism have more than one pair of ( homologous) chromosomes. Most species whose cells have nuclei (eukaryotes) are diploid, meaning they have two sets of chromosomes, where each set contains ...

and does not

self-pollinate Self-pollination is a form of pollination in which pollen from the same plant arrives at the stigma of a flower (in flowering plants) or at the ovule (in gymnosperms). There are two types of self-pollination: in autogamy, pollen is transferred t ...

. Most cultivars have a

chilling requirement The chilling requirement of a fruit is the minimum period of cold weather after which a fruit-bearing tree will blossom. It is often expressed in chill hours, which can be calculated in different ways, all of which essentially involve adding up t ...

greater than 800 hours.

History

Many wild species of ''Vaccinium'' are thought to have been cultivated by Native Americans for thousands of years, with intentional crop burnings in northeastern areas being apparent from archeological evidence. ''V. corymbosum'', being one of the species likely used by these peoples, was later studied and domesticated in 1908 by Elizabeth Coleman White and

Frederick Vernon Coville Frederick Vernon Coville (March 23, 1867 – January 9, 1937) was an American botanist who participated in the Death Valley Expedition (1890-1891), was honorary curator of the United States National Herbarium (1893-1937), worked at then was Chi ...

Uses

In natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s, the berries are a food source for native and migrating birds, bears, and small mammals. The foliage is browsed by deer and rabbits. The berries were collected and used in

Native American cuisine Indigenous cuisine of the Americas includes all cuisines and food practices of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. Contemporary Native peoples retain a varied culture of traditional foods, along with the addition of some post-contact foods ...

in areas where ''Vaccinium corymbosum'' grew as a

native plant In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often popularised as "with no human intervention") during history. The term is equ ...

Cultivation

''Vaccinium corymbosum'' is the most common commercially grown blueberry in present-day North America. It is also cultivated as an

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that ...

for home and

wildlife garden A wildlife garden (or wild garden) is an environment created by a gardener that serves as a sustainable haven for surrounding wildlife. Wildlife gardens contain a variety of habitats that cater to native and local plants, birds, amphibian ...

s and

natural landscaping Natural landscaping, also called native gardening, is the use of native plants and adapted species, including trees, shrubs, groundcover, and grasses which are local to the geographic area of the garden. Benefits Maintenance Natural land ...

projects. The pH must be very acidic (4.5 to 5.5).

Cultivars

Some common

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture ...

varieties are listed here, grouped by approximate start of the harvest season: The cultivars ''Duke'' and ''Spartan'' have gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nor ...

's Award of Garden Merit.

Southern highbush blueberry

Some named

Southern highbush blueberry ''Vaccinium darrowii'', with the common names Darrow's blueberry, evergreen blueberry, scrub blueberry, or southern highbush blueberry, is a species of ''Vaccinium'' in the blueberry group (''Vaccinium'' sect. ''Cyanococcus''). Distribution ''V ...

are hybridized forms derived from crosses between ''V. corymbosum'' and '' Vaccinium darrowii'', a native of the Southeastern U.S. These hybrids and other

s of ''V. darrowii'' (Southern highbush blueberry) have been developed for cultivation in warm southern and western regions of North America.Four Winds Growers: Care of southern highbush blueberries
/ref>

Gallery

File:Highbush Blueberry Vaccinium corymbosum Sapling 2000px.jpg, Mature shrub. File:Vaccinium corymbosum Strauch.jpg, Young shrub with fruit. File:Highbush Blueberry Vaccinium corymbosum Branch 3008px.jpg, Foliage File:Vaccinium corymbosum Blüten.jpg, Flowers File:Vaccinium corymbosum 1.jpg, Berries, ripe and unripe. File:Vaccinium corymbosum Beeren.jpg, Berry closeup File:Blueberry Chandler.jpg, File:Vaccinium corymbosum 8349.JPG, Autumn leaves

References

External links

United States Department of Agriculture Plants Profile for ''Vaccinium corymbosum'' (highbush blueberry)Species account and photographs from Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center Native Plant Information Network (NPIN)
{{Taxonbar, from=Q468695 corymbosum Blueberries Fruits originating in North America Crops originating from North America Flora of Eastern Canada Flora of the Eastern United States Flora of the Appalachian Mountains Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Bird food plants Plants used in Native American cuisine Garden plants of North America