ISHS Acta Horticulturae 290: Genetic Resources of Temperate Fruit and Nut Crops
BLUEBERRIES AND CRANBERRIES (VACCINIUM) |
| Authors: | James J. Luby, James R. Ballington, Arlen D. Draper, K. Pliszka, Max E. Austin |
| Abstract:
The genus Vaccinium L. (blueberries, cranberries, bilberries), a member of the Ericaceae (Heath family), is very old and estimates of species numbers range from 150 to 450 (Van Steenis, 1972). The majority of species inhabit the tropics where most are found on open mountain slopes (Camp, 1942). The balance of the species are distributed in subtropical, temperate, and boreal regions of the northern hemisphere. Plants of Vaccinium vary in form from epiphytes to trailing vines to trees with the majority being terrestrial shrubs. Some form crowns while others produce new aerial shoots from rhizomes (Camp, 1942). Flowers may be solitary or in racemes or clusters. Vaccinium fruit gathered from native stands has been an important staple plant food resource and a preferred fruit source predating recorded history (Hunn and Norton, 1984). Blueberries and cranberries have been harvested from wild stands for thousands of years by indigenous peoples and later by European colonists (Darrow and Camp, 1945; Barker et al., 1964; Hall et al., 1979). The practice of gathering wild fruit for dessert consumption, preserves, and/or wine making continues today with Vaccinium angustifolium Ait. and V. myrtilloides Michx. in the northeastern U.S.A. and Canada (Vander Kloet and Hall, 1981) and V. pallidum Ait., V. simulatum Small, and V. constablaei Gray in montane regions of the middle Atlantic, Ozark, or southeastern U.S.A. (Scott et al., 1978). In western North America, the various ‘huckleberry’ species, primarily V. membranaceum Doug. ex Hooker, V. deliciosum Piper, V. ovalifolium Smith, and V. chamissonis Bong., are harvested from unmanaged wild stands (Schultz, 1944; Minore, 1972; Minore et al., 1979; Vander Kloet, 1988). Vaccinium myrtillus L. and V. vitis-idaea L. are gathered extensively in northern Europe as are V. floribundum Kunth, V. meridionale Sw., and V. corymbodendron Dunal. in Andean South America, V. uliginosum I., in China and Scandinavia, and V. bracteatum Thunb. and V. myrtoides (Bl.) Miq. in east Asia and Malaysia (Van Steenis, 1972; Galletta, 1975; Luteyn, unpublished; Martin et al., 1987). Foliage of the evergreen V. ovatum Pursh is used commercially in floral arrangements and plants of several species are used in landscaping, particularly dwarf forms, evergreen types and those with vivid autumn foliage color (Schultz, 1944; Galletta, 1975; Stockton, 1976). | |
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