Vaccinium erythrocarpum

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Vaccinium erythrocarpum
Vaccinium erythrocarpum in bud.jpg
In Situ at Blood Mountain, Georgia
Status TNC G5.svg
Secure  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Ericales
Family: Ericaceae
Genus: Vaccinium
Subgenus: Vaccinium subg. Oxycoccus
Species:
V. erythrocarpum
Binomial name
Vaccinium erythrocarpum
Michx. 1803
Synonyms

Hugeria erythrocarpa

1913 illustration Vaccinium erythrocarpum BB-1913.jpg
1913 illustration

Vaccinium erythrocarpum, commonly known as southern mountain cranberry or bearberry, more rarely as mountain blueberry or dingleberry, [2] is a deciduous flowering shrub native to the Southeastern United States.

Contents

Description

Vaccinium erythrocarpum flowers bloom in June, they are hermaphrodite, of a tubular shape with reflexed petals, and they have long tassel like stamens that drape below the corolla. They produce somewhat translucent scarlet berries that set in late summer or early autumn. [3] The fruits are edible, tasting quite similar to other Cranberries. Their rarity and the small quantity of fruits they set are major barriers for commercial production despite the quality of their berries. [4]

BONAP county-level distribution map (2014) Vaccinium erythrocarpum bonap.png
BONAP county-level distribution map (2014)

Range

This species is found in the Southern and Central Appalachians at high elevations, often at prominences within the landscape (especially at the southern end of their range). [3] They are state listed in Georgia (S1), Kentucky (S1), North Carolina (S4), Virginia (S4), and West Virginia (S4). [5]

Ecology

The flowers are pollinated by insects (primarily large bees). Their berries are edible, and are consumed readily by wildlife. The plant generally grows in woodlands and areas of dappled shade, primarily in mixed oak-heath forests. [6] This species is commonly found on Southern Appalachian heath balds, where it is often a prominent member of the shrub layer. [7]

Taxonomy

Vaccinium erythrocarpum was long considered synonymous with Vaccinium japonicum, found in East Asia, however two have since been split into separate species. [6] Both species are now considered members of the cranberry subgenus Oxycoccus, both also placed into the section Oxycoccoides. These species within sect. Oxycoccoides differ from the rest of the subgenus as they are deciduous shrubs while sect. Oxycoccus consists of trailing evergreen vines.

Related Research Articles

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Cranberries are a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines in the subgenus Oxycoccus of the genus Vaccinium. In Britain, cranberry may refer to the native species Vaccinium oxycoccos, while in North America, cranberry may refer to Vaccinium macrocarpon. Vaccinium oxycoccos is cultivated in central and northern Europe, while Vaccinium macrocarpon is cultivated throughout the northern United States, Canada and Chile. In some methods of classification, Oxycoccus is regarded as a genus in its own right. Cranberries can be found in acidic bogs throughout the cooler regions of the Northern Hemisphere.

<i>Vaccinium</i> Genus of berry-producing shrubs in the heath family

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

<i>Vaccinium vitis-idaea</i> Species of shrub with edible fruit

Vaccinium vitis-idaea, the lingonberry, partridgeberry, mountain cranberry or cowberry, is a small evergreen shrub in the heath family Ericaceae, that bears edible fruit. It is native to boreal forest and Arctic tundra throughout the Northern Hemisphere, from Europe and Asia to North America. Lingonberries are picked in the wild and used to accompany various dishes, primarily in the Nordic countries. Commercial cultivation is undertaken in the U.S. Pacific Northwest and in the Netherlands.

<i>Cornus</i> Genus of flowering plants in the dogwood family Cornaceae

Cornus is a genus of about 30–60 species of woody plants in the family Cornaceae, commonly known as dogwoods, which can generally be distinguished by their blossoms, berries, and distinctive bark. Most are deciduous trees or shrubs, but a few species are nearly herbaceous perennial subshrubs, and some species are evergreen. Several species have small heads of inconspicuous flowers surrounded by an involucre of large, typically white petal-like bracts, while others have more open clusters of petal-bearing flowers. The various species of dogwood are native throughout much of temperate and boreal Eurasia and North America, with China, Japan, and the southeastern United States being particularly rich in native species.

<i>Vaccinium macrocarpon</i> Species of aquatic plant

Vaccinium macrocarpon, also called large cranberry, American cranberry and bearberry, is a North American species of cranberry in the subgenus Oxycoccus.

<i>Vaccinium myrtillus</i> Berry and plant

Vaccinium myrtillus or European blueberry is a holarctic species of shrub with edible fruit of blue color, known by the common names bilberry, blaeberry, wimberry, and whortleberry. It is more precisely called common bilberry or blue whortleberry to distinguish it from other Vaccinium relatives.

<i>Vaccinium uliginosum</i> Berry and plant

Vaccinium uliginosum is a Eurasian and North American flowering plant in the genus Vaccinium within the heath family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New England–Acadian forests</span> Temperate broadleaf and mixed forest ecoregion of Canada and the United States

The New England-Acadian forests are a temperate broadleaf and mixed forest ecoregion in North America that includes a variety of habitats on the hills, mountains and plateaus of New England and New York State in the Northeastern United States, and Quebec and the Maritime Provinces of Eastern Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Appalachian balds</span> Mountain type

In the Appalachian Mountains of the eastern United States, balds are mountain summits or crests covered primarily by thick vegetation of native grasses or shrubs occurring in areas where heavy forest growth would be expected.

<i>Vaccinium cespitosum</i> Berry and plant

Vaccinium cespitosum, known as the dwarf bilberry, dwarf blueberry, or dwarf huckleberry, is a species of flowering shrub in the genus Vaccinium, which includes blueberries, huckleberries, and cranberries.

Mountain cranberry is a common name for several plants and may refer to:

<i>Vaccinium stamineum</i> Species of flowering plant

Vaccinium stamineum, commonly known as deerberry, tall deerberry, highbush huckleberry, buckberry, and southern gooseberry, is a species of flowering plant in the heath family. It is native to North America, including Ontario, the eastern and central United States, and parts of Mexico. It is most common in the southeastern United States.

<i>Rubus canadensis</i> Species of flowering plant

Rubus canadensis is a North American species of flowering plant in the rose family known by the common names smooth blackberry, Canadian blackberry, thornless blackberry and smooth highbush blackberry. It is native to central and eastern Canada and the eastern United States.

<i>Vaccinium myrsinites</i> Berry and plant

Vaccinium myrsinites is a species of flowering plant in the heath family known by the common name shiny blueberry. It is native to the southeastern United States from Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and Florida. It may occur as far west as Louisiana.

<i>Vaccinium pallidum</i> Berry and plant

Vaccinium pallidum is a species of flowering plant in the heath family known by the common names hillside blueberry, Blue Ridge blueberry, late lowbush blueberry, and early lowbush blueberry. It is native to central Canada (Ontario) and the central and eastern United States plus the Ozarks of Missouri, Arkansas, southeastern Kansas and eastern Oklahoma.

<i>Vaccinium oxycoccos</i> Species of flowering plant

Vaccinium oxycoccos is a species of flowering plant in the heath family. It is known as small cranberry, marshberry, bog cranberry, swamp cranberry, or, particularly in Britain, just cranberry. It is widespread throughout the cool temperate northern hemisphere, including northern Europe, northern Asia and northern North America.

<i>Vaccinium hirsutum</i> Berry and plant

Vaccinium hirsutum is a species of flowering plant in the heath family known by the common name hairy blueberry. This species is endemic to a small area in the southern Appalachian mountains, where it is only known from a few counties in eastern Tennessee, northern Georgia, and the Carolinas.

<i>Vaccinium japonicum</i> Species of plant

Vaccinium japonicum is a species of deciduous flowering shrub. They are native to Japan, Taiwan, Korea, and parts of China. They are specifically found in the provinces of Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, and Zhejiang in China. They are typically found in forests and thickets within alpine areas between 1000 and 2600 metres. This species was once considered a subspecies of the North American species, Vaccinium erythrocarpum; however it has since been split to a full species.

<i>Vaccinium praestans</i> Species of shrub

Vaccinium praestans, the Kamchatka bilberry, is a perennial shrub in the family Ericaceae, which includes species like cranberries, blueberries, and huckleberries. In Russia this plant is known as the Klopovka, or stink-bug berry, due to its distinct, potent scent, resembling that of a secretion produced by bugs of Heteroptera genus. The plant is native to Kamchatka but can be found in North America to Eastern Asia. Mostly growing in the wild, it is also enjoyed as an ornamental plant, most commonly in Japan, where it is used to decorate home gardens. Like many other species in the family Ericaceae, its berries are edible.

<i>Vaccinium formosum</i> Species of plant

Vaccinium formosum, with common names highbush blueberry, southern blueberry, southern highbush blueberry, and swamp highbush blueberry, is a species of blueberry that is native to the Southeastern United States.

References

  1. illustration from An illustrated flora of the northern United States, Canada and the British Possessions. Vol. 2: 705. Authors: Britton, N.L., & A. Brown.
  2. "Vaccinium erythrocarpum". Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
  3. 1 2 "NameThatPlant.net: Vaccinium erythrocarpum". www.namethatplant.net. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  4. "Vaccinium erythrocarpum Southern Mountain Cranberry PFAF Plant Database". pfaf.org. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  5. "NatureServe Explorer 2.0". explorer.natureserve.org. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  6. 1 2 Flora of north America, Vaccinium erythrocarpum Michaux, 1803
  7. "Vaccinium erythrocarpum". georgiabiodiversity.org. Retrieved 2023-06-23.

"Vaccinium erythrocarpum". County-level distribution map from the North American Plant Atlas (NAPA). Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2023.