Vaccinium uliginosum

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Vaccinium uliginosum
File:Vaccinium uliginosum fruit.jpg
Leaves and fruit
Scientific classification
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V. uliginosum
Binomial name
Vaccinium uliginosum
L. 1753
Synonyms[1]
Synonymy
  • Myrtillus grandis Bubani
  • Myrtillus uliginosus (L.) Drejer
  • Vaccinium gaultherioides Bigelow
  • Vaccinium occidentale A. Gray
  • Vaccinium pedris Holub
  • Vaccinium pubescens Wormsk. ex Hornem.
  • Vaccinium salicinum Cham. & Schltdl.

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Vaccinium uliginosum (bog bilberry, bog blueberry,[2] northern bilberry or western blueberry[3]) is a Eurasian and North American flowering plant in the genus Vaccinium within the heath family.

Distribution

Vaccinium uliginosum 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, the Korean Peninsula and central Japan in Asia, and the Sierra Nevada in California and the Rocky Mountains in Utah in North America.[4][5][6][7]

It grows on wet acidic soils on heathland, moorland, tundra, and in the understory of coniferous forests, from sea level in the Arctic, up to 3,400 metres (11,200 ft) altitude in the south of the range.

Description

Vaccinium uliginosum is a small deciduous shrub growing to  cm 10–75 centimetres (0.33–2.46 ft) tall, rarely 1 metre (3.3 ft) tall, with brown stems (unlike the green stems of the closely related Bilberry). The leaves are oval, 4–30 millimetres (0.16–1.18 in) long and 2–15 millimetres (0.079–0.591 in) wide, blue-green with pale net-like veins, with a smooth margin and rounded apex.[4]

The flowers are pendulous, urn-shaped, pale pink, 4–6 mm long, produced in mid spring. The fruit is a dark blue-black berry 5–8 millimetres (0.20–0.31 in) diameter, with a white flesh, edible and sweet when ripe in late summer.[4]

Subspecies

Some authors separate them, but these are not considered distinct by all authorities - the subspecies are:

  • Vaccinium uliginosum subsp. microphyllum - Arctic plants [8]
  • Vaccinium uliginosum subsp. occidentale - North American plants [9]
  • Vaccinium uliginosum subsp. uliginosum

References

Further reading

  • Blamey, M., & Grey-Wilson, C. (1989). Flora of Britain and Northern Europe. Hodder & Stoughton.

External links