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Vaccinium
 
 
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Vaccinium is a genus
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
 of 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....
s or dwarf shrubs in the plant Family Ericaceae
Ericaceae

The plant family Ericaceae are mostly calcium oxide-hating plants that thrive in acid soils. Many well-known plants of the Ericaceae live in temperate climates, such as cranberry, blueberry, Erica, Calluna vulgaris, huckleberry, azalea and rhododendron....
. 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....
 of many species are eaten by humans and some are of commercial importance, including the cranberry
Cranberry

Cranberries are a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines in the genus Vaccinium subgenus Oxycoccos, or in some treatments, in the distinct genus Oxycoccos....
, 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"....
, bilberry
Bilberry

Bilberry is a name given to several species of low-growing shrubs in the genus Vaccinium that bears false berrys. The species most often referred to is Vaccinium myrtillus L., otherwise known as the European blueberry....
 or whortleberry, lingonberry or cowberry, and huckleberry. Like many other ericaceous plants, they are generally restricted to acid
Acid

An acid is traditionally considered any chemical compound that, when dissolved in water, gives a solution with a hydrogen ion Activity greater than in pure water, i.e....
ic soils.

genus contains about 450 species, which are found mostly in the cooler areas of the Northern Hemisphere
Northern Hemisphere

The Northern Hemisphere is the half of a planet that is north of the equator?the word sphere literally means 'half sphere'. It is also that half of the celestial sphere north of the celestial equator....
, although there are tropical species from areas as widely separated as Madagascar
Madagascar

Madagascar, or Republic of Madagascar , is an island nation in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa. The main island, also called Madagascar, is the List of islands by area, and is home to 5% of the world's plant and animal species, of which more than 80% are Endemism to Madagascar....
 and Hawaii
Hawaii

File:Pahoehoe and Aa flows at Hawaii.jpgThe State of Hawaii is a U.S. state in the United States, located on an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of Australia....
.

name vaccinium was used in classical Latin
Classical Latin

Classical Latin is the form of the Latin used by the ancient Rome in what is usually regarded as "classical" Latin literature. Its use spanned the Golden Age of Latin literature—broadly the 1st century BC and the early 1st century AD—possibly extending to the Silver Age—broadly the 1st and 2nd centuries....
 for a type of berry (probably the bilberry
Bilberry

Bilberry is a name given to several species of low-growing shrubs in the genus Vaccinium that bears false berrys. The species most often referred to is Vaccinium myrtillus L., otherwise known as the European blueberry....
 V. myrtillus), but its ultimate derivation is obscure; it has nothing to do with vaccinum "of or pertaining to cows", but may be a corruption of Latin bacca, berry
Berry

In everyday English, a berry is a broad term for any small edible fruit. Most berries are juicy, round or semi-oblong, brightly coloured, sweet or sour, and don't have a stone or pit....
.

plants require acid
Acid

An acid is traditionally considered any chemical compound that, when dissolved in water, gives a solution with a hydrogen ion Activity greater than in pure water, i.e....
ic soils, and as wild plants they live in habitats such as heath
Heath (habitat)

A heath or heathland is a Chamaephyte habitat found on mainly infertile acidic soils, characterised by open, low growing woody vegetation, often Dominance by plants of the Ericaceae....
, bog
Bog

A bog or mire is a wetland type that accumulates acidic peat, a deposit of dead plant material—usually mosses, but also lichens in Arctic climates....
 and acidic woodland
Woodland

Ecologically, a woodland is an area covered in trees, usually at low density, forming an open habitat, allowing sunlight to penetrate between the trees, and limiting shade....
.






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Encyclopedia


Vaccinium is a genus
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
 of 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....
s or dwarf shrubs in the plant Family Ericaceae
Ericaceae

The plant family Ericaceae are mostly calcium oxide-hating plants that thrive in acid soils. Many well-known plants of the Ericaceae live in temperate climates, such as cranberry, blueberry, Erica, Calluna vulgaris, huckleberry, azalea and rhododendron....
. 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....
 of many species are eaten by humans and some are of commercial importance, including the cranberry
Cranberry

Cranberries are a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines in the genus Vaccinium subgenus Oxycoccos, or in some treatments, in the distinct genus Oxycoccos....
, 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"....
, bilberry
Bilberry

Bilberry is a name given to several species of low-growing shrubs in the genus Vaccinium that bears false berrys. The species most often referred to is Vaccinium myrtillus L., otherwise known as the European blueberry....
 or whortleberry, lingonberry or cowberry, and huckleberry. Like many other ericaceous plants, they are generally restricted to acid
Acid

An acid is traditionally considered any chemical compound that, when dissolved in water, gives a solution with a hydrogen ion Activity greater than in pure water, i.e....
ic soils.

Distribution

The genus contains about 450 species, which are found mostly in the cooler areas of the Northern Hemisphere
Northern Hemisphere

The Northern Hemisphere is the half of a planet that is north of the equator?the word sphere literally means 'half sphere'. It is also that half of the celestial sphere north of the celestial equator....
, although there are tropical species from areas as widely separated as Madagascar
Madagascar

Madagascar, or Republic of Madagascar , is an island nation in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa. The main island, also called Madagascar, is the List of islands by area, and is home to 5% of the world's plant and animal species, of which more than 80% are Endemism to Madagascar....
 and Hawaii
Hawaii

File:Pahoehoe and Aa flows at Hawaii.jpgThe State of Hawaii is a U.S. state in the United States, located on an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of Australia....
.

Etymology

The name vaccinium was used in classical Latin
Classical Latin

Classical Latin is the form of the Latin used by the ancient Rome in what is usually regarded as "classical" Latin literature. Its use spanned the Golden Age of Latin literature—broadly the 1st century BC and the early 1st century AD—possibly extending to the Silver Age—broadly the 1st and 2nd centuries....
 for a type of berry (probably the bilberry
Bilberry

Bilberry is a name given to several species of low-growing shrubs in the genus Vaccinium that bears false berrys. The species most often referred to is Vaccinium myrtillus L., otherwise known as the European blueberry....
 V. myrtillus), but its ultimate derivation is obscure; it has nothing to do with vaccinum "of or pertaining to cows", but may be a corruption of Latin bacca, berry
Berry

In everyday English, a berry is a broad term for any small edible fruit. Most berries are juicy, round or semi-oblong, brightly coloured, sweet or sour, and don't have a stone or pit....
.

Characteristics

The plants require acid
Acid

An acid is traditionally considered any chemical compound that, when dissolved in water, gives a solution with a hydrogen ion Activity greater than in pure water, i.e....
ic soils, and as wild plants they live in habitats such as heath
Heath (habitat)

A heath or heathland is a Chamaephyte habitat found on mainly infertile acidic soils, characterised by open, low growing woody vegetation, often Dominance by plants of the Ericaceae....
, bog
Bog

A bog or mire is a wetland type that accumulates acidic peat, a deposit of dead plant material—usually mosses, but also lichens in Arctic climates....
 and acidic woodland
Woodland

Ecologically, a woodland is an area covered in trees, usually at low density, forming an open habitat, allowing sunlight to penetrate between the trees, and limiting shade....
. The plant structure varies between species – some trail along the ground, some are dwarf shrubs, and some are larger shrubs perhaps tall. 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....
 develops from an inferior ovary, and is a false berry
False berry

An epigynous berry or false berry is an accessory fruit found in certain plant species with an ovary #Inferior ovary, distinguishing it from a true berry....
; it is usually brightly coloured, often being red or bluish with purple juice.

Food uses

Vaccinium species are used as food plants by the larva
Larva

A larva is a young form of animal with indirect developmental biology, going through or undergoing metamorphosis .The larva can look completely different from the adult form, for example, a caterpillar differs from a butterfly....
e of a number of Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera

Lepidoptera is an order of insect that includes moths and butterfly. It is one of the most speciose orders in the class Insecta, encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterfly, skipper , and Hedylidae....
 (butterfly
Butterfly

A butterfly is an insect of the Order Lepidoptera. Like all Lepidoptera, butterflies are notable for their unusual Biological life cycle with a larval caterpillar stage, an inactive pupal stage, and a spectacular metamorphosis into a familiar and colourful winged adult form....
 and moth
Moth

A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the Order Lepidoptera. The differences between butterflies and moths are more than just taxonomy....
) species – see list of Lepidoptera that feed on Vaccinium.

Taxonomy

The taxonomy
Taxonomy

Taxonomy is the practice and science of classification. The word comes from the Greek language ', taxis and ', nomos .Taxonomies, or taxonomic schemes, are composed of taxonomic units known as taxa , or kinds of things that are arranged frequently in a hierarchical structure....
 is complex, and still under investigation. A number of the Asian species are more closely related to Agapetes than to other Vaccinium species. A second group includes most of Orthaea and Notopora, at least some of Gaylussacia
Gaylussacia

Gaylussacia is a genus of about fifty species of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae, native to the Americas, where they occur in eastern North America and in South America in the Andes and the mountains of southeastern Brazil ....
 (huckleberry), and a number of species from Vaccinium, such as Vaccinium crassifolium
Vaccinium crassifolium

Creeping blueberry is a species of Vaccinium native to the southeastern United States. It is evergreen with shiny dark green to bronze Leaf....
. Other parts of Vaccinium form other groups, sometimes together with species of other genera.

Subgenera

A classification which predates molecular phylogeny
Molecular phylogeny

Molecular phylogenetics, also known as molecular systematics, is the use of the structure of molecules to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships....
 divides Vaccinium into subgenera, and several sections: Subgenus Oxycoccus: The cranberries
Cranberry

Cranberries are a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines in the genus Vaccinium subgenus Oxycoccos, or in some treatments, in the distinct genus Oxycoccos....
, with slender, trailing, wiry non-woody shoots and strongly reflexed flower petals. Some botanists treat Oxycoccus as a distinct genus.
  • Sect. Oxycoccus
    • Vaccinium macrocarpon
      Cranberry

      Cranberries are a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines in the genus Vaccinium subgenus Oxycoccos, or in some treatments, in the distinct genus Oxycoccos....
       (American Cranberry)
    • Vaccinium microcarpum
      Cranberry

      Cranberries are a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines in the genus Vaccinium subgenus Oxycoccos, or in some treatments, in the distinct genus Oxycoccos....
       (Small Cranberry)
    • Vaccinium oxycoccus
      Cranberry

      Cranberries are a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines in the genus Vaccinium subgenus Oxycoccos, or in some treatments, in the distinct genus Oxycoccos....
       (Common Cranberry)
  • Sect. Oxycoccoides
    • Vaccinium erythrocarpum
      Southern Mountain Cranberry

      Southern Mountain Cranberry , is a type of cranberry native to the southeastern Cuba. It is a deciduous shrub.The flowers bloom in June. The individual flowers are hermaphrodite and are Pollination by insects....
       (Southern Mountain Cranberry)
Subgenus Vaccinium: All the other species, with thicker, upright woody shoots and bell-shaped flowers.
  • Sect. Batodendron
    • Vaccinium arboreum
      Vaccinium arboreum

      Vaccinium arboreum is a species of Vaccinium native to the southeastern United States, from southern Virginia west to southeastern Missouri, and south to Florida and eastern Texas....
       (Sparkleberry) ()
    • Vaccinium crassifolium (Creeping blueberry)
  • Sect. Brachyceratium
    • Vaccinium dependens
  • Sect. Bracteata
    • Vaccinium acrobracteatum
    • Vaccinium barandanum
    • Vaccinium bracteatum
    • Vaccinium coriaceum
    • Vaccinium cornigerum
    • Vaccinium cruentum
    • Vaccinium hooglandii
    • Vaccinium horizontale
    • Vaccinium laurifolium
    • Vaccinium lucidum
    • Vaccinium myrtoides
    • Vaccinium phillyreoides
    • Vaccinium reticulatovenosum
    • Vaccinium sparsum
    • Vaccinium varingifolium
  • Sect. Ciliata
    • Vaccinium ciliatum
    • Vaccinium oldhamii
  • Sect. Cinctosandra
    • Vaccinium exul
  • Sect. Conchophyllum
    • Vaccinium corymbodendron
    • Vaccinium delavayi
    • Vaccinium emarginatum
    • Vaccinium griffithianum
    • Vaccinium meridionale
    • Vaccinium moupinense (Himalayan Blueberry)
    • Vaccinium neilgherrense
    • Vaccinium nummularia
    • Vaccinium retusum
  • Sect. Cyanococcus (blueberries
    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"....
    )
    • Vaccinium angustifolium (Lowbush Blueberry)
    • Vaccinium boreale (Northern Blueberry)
    • Vaccinium caesariense (New Jersey Blueberry)
    • Vaccinium corymbosum (Highbush Blueberry)
    • Vaccinium darrowii
      Vaccinium darrowii

      Vaccinium darrowii is a species of Vaccinium in the blueberry group ....
       (Evergreen Blueberry)
    • Vaccinium elliottii
      Vaccinium elliottii

      Vaccinum elliottii is a species of Vaccinium in the blueberry group . It is native to the southeastern United States, from southeastern Virginia south to Florida, and west to Arkansas and Texas....
       (Elliott's Blueberry)
    • Vaccinium formosum
    • Vaccinium fuscatum (Black Highbush Blueberry; syn. V. atrococcum)
    • Vaccinium hirsutum
    • Vaccinium koreanum
    • Vaccinium myrsinites (Evergreen Blueberry)
    • Vaccinium myrtilloides (Canadian Blueberry)
    • Vaccinium pallidum (Dryland Blueberry) ()
    • Vaccinium simulatum
    • Vaccinium tenellum
    • Vaccinium virgatum (Rabbiteye Blueberry; syn. V. ashei)
  • Sect. Eococcus
    • Vaccinium fragile
  • Sect. Epigynium
    • Vaccinium vacciniaceum
  • Sect. Galeopetalum
    • Vaccinium chunii
    • Vaccinium dunalianum
    • Vaccinium glaucoalbum
    • Vaccinium urceolatum
  • Sect. Hemimyrtillus
    • Vaccinium arctostaphylos
    • Vaccinium cylindraceum
    • Vaccinium hirtum
    • Vaccinium padifolium
    • Vaccinium smallii
  • Sect. Myrtillus
    • Vaccinium calycinum (Ohelo kau laau)
    • Vaccinium cespitosum
      Vaccinium cespitosum

      Vaccinium cespitosum, , the dwarf bilberry, is a species of flowering shrub in the genus which includes Vaccinium. It is a low-lying plant rarely reaching half a meter in height which forms a carpetlike stand in rocky mountainous meadows....
       (Dwarf bilberry)
    • Vaccinium deliciosum (Cascade Bilberry)
    • Vaccinium dentatum (Ohelo)
    • Vaccinium membranaceum
    • Vaccinium myrtillus
      Bilberry

      Bilberry is a name given to several species of low-growing shrubs in the genus Vaccinium that bears false berrys. The species most often referred to is Vaccinium myrtillus L., otherwise known as the European blueberry....
       (Bilberry)
    • Vaccinium ovalifolium
      Vaccinium ovalifolium

      Vaccinium ovalifolium is a plant found in coastal forests throughout southern Alaska and the Aleutian Islands....
       (Alaska Blueberry; syn. V. alaskaense)
    • Vaccinium parvifolium
      Vaccinium parvifolium

      Red Huckleberry is a species of Vaccinium native to the Pacific Northwest of North America, where it is common in forests from southeastern Alaska and British Columbia south through Washington and Oregon to central California....
       (Red Huckleberry)
    • Vaccinium praestans - Krasnika in Russian
    • Vaccinium reticulatum
      Vaccinium reticulatum

      The Ohelo ai is a species of flowering plant in the Calluna family, Ericaceae, and is native to the Hawaiian Islands, where it grows at altitudes of on lava flows and freshly Ruderal species volcanic ash on Maui and Hawaii , and less commonly on Kauai, Oahu, and Molokai....
       (Ohelo ai)
    • Vaccinium scoparium (Grouse Whortleberry)
  • Sect. Neurodesia
    • Vaccinium crenatum
  • Sect. Oarianthe
    • Vaccinium ambyandrum
    • Vaccinium cyclopense
  • Sect. Oreades
    • Vaccinium poasanum
  • Sect. Pachyanthum
    • Vaccinium fissiflorum
  • Sect. Polycodium
    • Vaccinium stamineum
      Vaccinium stamineum

      Vaccinium stamineum, commonly known as deerberry, squaw huckleberry or gooseberry, is a flowering shrub in the Ericaceae. The plant is native to eastern North America from Ontario in the north, south to Florida and west to Texas....
       (Deerberry; syn. V. caesium) ()
  • Sect. Pyxothamnus
    • Vaccinium consanguineum
    • Vaccinium floribundum
    • Vaccinium ovatum
      Vaccinium ovatum

      Vaccinium ovatum is a species of flowering shrub known by the common names evergreen huckleberry and California huckleberry....
       (California Huckleberry)
  • Sect. Vaccinium
    • Vaccinium uliginosum
      Vaccinium uliginosum

      Vaccinium uliginosum is a flowering plant in the genus Vaccinium.It is native to cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, at low altitudes in the Arctic, and at high altitudes south to the Pyrenees, the Alps, and the Caucasus in Europe, the mountains of Mongolia, northern China and central Japan in Asia, and the Sierra N...
       (Northern (or Bog) Bilberry; syn. V. occidentale)
  • Sect. Vitis-idaea
    • Vaccinium vitis-idaea
      Vaccinium vitis-idaea

      The Vaccinium vitis-idaea – often called lingonberry and also called cowberry, foxberry, mountain cranberry, csejka berry, red whortleberry, lowbush cranberry, mountain bilberry, partridgeberry , and redberry – is a small evergreen shrub in the flowering plant family...
       (Cowberry, Lingonberry)


Production

Cranberrys Beim Ernten

External links