Vaccinium

Vaccinium (pronounced /vækˈsɪniəm/) is a genus of shrubs or dwarf shrubs in the plant Family Ericaceae. The fruit of many species are eaten by humans and some are of commercial importance, including the cranberry, blueberry, bilberry or whortleberry, lingonberry or cowberry, and huckleberry. Like many other ericaceous plants, they are generally restricted to acidic soils.

Distribution

The genus contains about 450 species, which are found mostly in the cooler areas of the Northern Hemisphere, although there are tropical species from areas as widely separated as Madagascar and Hawaii.

Etymology

The name vaccinium was used in classical Latin for a type of berry (probably the bilberry 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.

Characteristics

The plants require acidic soils, and as wild plants they live in habitats such as heath, bog and acidic woodland. The plant structure varies between species – some trail along the ground, some are dwarf shrubs, and some are larger shrubs perhaps 1 to 2 m (3 to 7 ft) tall. The fruit develops from an inferior ovary, and is a false 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 larvae of a number of Lepidoptera (butterfly and moth) species – see list of Lepidoptera that feed on Vaccinium.

Taxonomy

The taxonomy 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 (huckleberry), and a number of species from Vaccinium, such as Vaccinium crassifolium. Other parts of Vaccinium form other groups, sometimes together with species of other genera.

Subgenera

A classification which predates molecular phylogeny divides Vaccinium into subgenera, and several sections: Subgenus Oxycoccus: The cranberries, with slender, trailing, wiry non-woody shoots and strongly reflexed flower petals. Some botanists treat Oxycoccus as a distinct genus.
Sect. Oxycoccus
Vaccinium macrocarpon (American Cranberry)
Vaccinium microcarpum (Small Cranberry)
Vaccinium oxycoccus (Common Cranberry)
Sect. Oxycoccoides
Vaccinium erythrocarpum (Southern Mountain Cranberry)
Subgenus Vaccinium: All the other species, with thicker, upright woody shoots and bell-shaped flowers.
Sect. Batodendron
Vaccinium arboreum (Sparkleberry) ([http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/species/frame/vaar.htm images])
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)
Vaccinium angustifolium (Lowbush Blueberry)
Vaccinium boreale (Northern Blueberry)
Vaccinium caesariense (New Jersey Blueberry)
Vaccinium corymbosum (Highbush Blueberry)
Vaccinium darrowii (Evergreen Blueberry)
Vaccinium elliottii (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) ([http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/species/frame/vapa4.htm images])
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 Sm. - Ōhelo kau laʻau (Hawaiʻi)
Vaccinium cespitosum (Dwarf bilberry)
Vaccinium deliciosum (Cascade Bilberry)
Vaccinium dentatum Sm. - Ōhelo (Hawaiʻi)
Vaccinium membranaceum
Vaccinium myrtillus (Bilberry)
Vaccinium ovalifolium (Alaska Blueberry; syn. V. alaskaense)
Vaccinium parvifolium (Red Huckleberry)
Vaccinium praestans - Krasnika in Russian (Russian :Красника)
Vaccinium reticulatum Sm. - Ōhelo ʻai (Hawaiʻi)
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 L. - Deerberry; syn. V. caesium (Eastern North America) ([http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/species/frame/vast.htm images])
Sect. Pyxothamnus
Vaccinium consanguineum
Vaccinium floribundum
Vaccinium ovatum Pursh - California Huckleberry (Northwestern North America)
Sect. Vaccinium
Vaccinium uliginosum L. - Northern (or Bog) Bilberry; syn. V. occidentale (Northern North America and Eurasia)
Sect. Vitis-idaea
Vaccinium vitis-idaea L. - Cowberry, Lingonberry (Northern North America and Eurasia)

Translation

The word "Vaccinium" occurs as such in the following languages: English, Catalan, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Simple English.

Translation(s) in other languages: Bulgarian: Боровинка, Czech: Brusnice (rod), Danish: Bølle-slægten, German: Heidelbeeren, Estonian: Mustikas (perekond), Esperanto: Vakcinio, French: Airelle, Korean: 산앵두나무속, Upper Sorbian: Holanske jahodki, Georgian: მოცვი, Lithuanian: Šilauogė, Dutch: Bosbessen, Dutch Low Saxon: Bosbezen, Japanese: スノキ属, Norwegian (Bokmål): Bærlyng, Low Saxon: Heidelberen, Polish: Borówka, Russian: Вакциниум, Northern Sami: Jokŋašattut, Slovenian: Vakcinij, Finnish: Puolukat, Swedish: Blåbärssläktet, Vietnamese: Chi Việt quất.