Vaccinium L.
Blueberry
Vaccinium is a hardy genus of shrubs that produces many of the berries we love to eat: bilberries, blueberries, whortleberries, hurtleberries, huckleberries, cranberries, lingonberries, dangleberries, and cowberries among them. Many species are cultivated now. Bears, birds, and many other animals also enjoy these fruits. Vaccinium taxonomy is bewildering, in part because they hybridize freely.
Identification: Plants are mostly deciduous perennial shrubs (a few are evergreens), some only a few centimeters high, others a meter or more, with tough, flexible branches. They seem to hunker down, adjusting to the often exposed locations they inhabit, flourishing where few species can. Some prefer bogs; others acidic, sandy soils or woodlands. They have shiny, elliptic leaves and flowers that are usually urn-shaped, and about the same size as the berries. Berries vary in size from ⅛–½″ (3.2–15 mm) in size, and may be blue, red, or black.
Below are some of members of the Vaccinium genus, along with some similar-appearing members from Gaylussacia:
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Similar species. |
Online References:
Highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum) · 4/24/2012 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 4½ × 3″ (11 × 7.9 cm) 
Cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon) · 8/18/2013 · Bemis Road, Townsend, Massachusetts · ≈ 6 × 9″ (15 × 22 cm) 
Cowberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea) · 9/19/2009 · Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor, Maine · ≈ 7 × 4½″ (17 × 11 cm) 
Mountain cranberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea) · 9/20/2009 · Wild Gardens of Acadia, Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor, Maine · ≈ 17 × 12″ (44 × 29 cm) 
| Kingdom | Plantae | Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae (from Stearn's Botanical Latin) |
| Subkingdom | Tracheobionta | Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients |
| Division | Magnoliophyta | Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms |
| Class | Magnoliopsida | Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves |
| Subclass | Asteridae | A large class that encompasses asters |
| Order | Ericales | Tea, persimmon, blueberry, Brazil nut, azalea, many others |
| Family | Ericaceae | Heath or heather family |
| Genus | Vaccinium | Ancient Latin name for billberry |
Vaccinium description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.
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