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Rabbiteye Blueberry

 
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Rabbiteye blueberry
 
 
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Rabbiteye Blueberry (Vaccinium virgatum, also known as V. ashei) is a species of blueberry
Blueberry

Blueberries are flowering plants in the genus Vaccinium, sect. Cyanococcus. The species are native only to North America. They are shrubs varying in size from 10 cm tall to 4 m tall; the smaller species are known as "lowbush blueberries" , and the larger species as "highbush blueberries"....
 native to the southeastern United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
, from North Carolina
North Carolina

North Carolina is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north....
 south to Florida
Florida

Florida is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the northeast....
 and west to Texas
Texas

Texas is a U.S. state located in the South Central United States, nicknamed the Lone Star State. Texas is the second largest U.S. state in both area and population, spanning , and with a growing population of 24.3 million residents....
. Other common names include Southern Highbush Blueberry, Southern Black Blueberry, and Smallflower Blueberry.

s a deciduous
Deciduous

Deciduous means falling off at maturity or tending to fall off and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe....
 shrub
Shrub

A shrub or bush is a horticulture rather than strictly Botany category of woody plant, distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and lower height, usually less than 5-6 m tall....
 growing to 4 m tall, though usually less, commonly only 1-2 m tall.






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Encyclopedia


Rabbiteye Blueberry (Vaccinium virgatum, also known as V. ashei) is a species of blueberry
Blueberry

Blueberries are flowering plants in the genus Vaccinium, sect. Cyanococcus. The species are native only to North America. They are shrubs varying in size from 10 cm tall to 4 m tall; the smaller species are known as "lowbush blueberries" , and the larger species as "highbush blueberries"....
 native to the southeastern United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
, from North Carolina
North Carolina

North Carolina is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north....
 south to Florida
Florida

Florida is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the northeast....
 and west to Texas
Texas

Texas is a U.S. state located in the South Central United States, nicknamed the Lone Star State. Texas is the second largest U.S. state in both area and population, spanning , and with a growing population of 24.3 million residents....
. Other common names include Southern Highbush Blueberry, Southern Black Blueberry, and Smallflower Blueberry.

Growth

It is a deciduous
Deciduous

Deciduous means falling off at maturity or tending to fall off and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe....
 shrub
Shrub

A shrub or bush is a horticulture rather than strictly Botany category of woody plant, distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and lower height, usually less than 5-6 m tall....
 growing to 4 m tall, though usually less, commonly only 1-2 m tall. The leaves
Leaf

In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant Organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin, to expose the cells containing chloroplast to light over a broad area, and to allow light to penetrate fully into the tissues....
 are spirally arranged, oblanceolate to narrow elliptic, 3-6 cm long. The flower
Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproduction structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds....
s are white, bell-shaped, 5 mm long. The fruit
Fruit

The term fruit has different meanings dependent on context, and the term is not synonymous in food preparation and biology. In botany, which is the scientific study of plants, fruits are the ripened Ovary of flowering plants....
 is a berry 5 mm diameter, dark blue to black, bloomed pale blue-gray by a thin wax coating. It grows best on acid soil and is subject to few pests and diseases.

Characteristics

Rabbiteye blueberries are self infertile and must have two or more varieties to pollenize
Pollenizer

A pollenizer or polleniser, sometimes pollinizer or polliniser is a plant that provides pollen.The words pollenizer and pollination are often confused: A pollinator is the biotic agent that moves the pollen, such as bees, moths, bats, and birds....
 each other. Honeybees are inefficient pollinator
Pollinator

A pollinator is the biotic agent that moves pollen from the male anthers of a flower to the female carpel of a flower to accomplish fertilization or syngamy of the female gamete in the ovule of the flower by the male gamete from the pollen grain....
s, and carpenter bee
Carpenter bee

Carpenter bees are large, hairy bees distributed worldwide. There are some 500 species of carpenter bee in 31 subgenera. Their name comes from the fact that nearly all species build their nests in burrows in dead wood, bamboo, or structural timbers ....
s frequently cut the corollas to rob nectar
Nectar robbing

Nectar robbing refers to an insect visiting a flowering plant and removing nectar without Pollination the plant, for example by drilling a hole in the Corolla ....
 without pollinating
Pollination

Pollination in flowering plants and gymnosperms is the process that transfers pollen, which contain the male gametes to where the female gamete are contained within the carpel; in gymnosperms the pollen is directly applied to the ovule itself....
 the flowers. Rabbiteyes do best when pollinated by buzz pollination
Buzz pollination

Sonication or buzz pollination is a technique used by some bees to release pollen which is more or less firmly held by the anthers, which makes pollination more efficient....
 by bees, such as the native southeastern blueberry bee, Habropoda laboriosa
Habropoda laboriosa

The 'southeastern blueberry bee', 'Habropoda laboriosa', is a native bee in the family Apidae in the United States. It is regarded as the most efficient pollinator of southern rabbiteye blueberry, as the flowers require buzz pollination, and H....
.

Cultivation and uses

The species is cultivated for its edible berries, which are similar to other blueberries. It is also grown as an ornamental plant
Ornamental plant

Ornamental plants are typically grown in the flower garden or as house plants. Most commonly they are grown for the display of their flowers. Other common ornamental features include leaves, scent, fruit, Plant stem and bark....
 for its fall colors, typically bright orange or red.

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