Vaccinium ovatum | |
---|---|
Berry | |
Flower | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Ericales |
Family: | Ericaceae |
Genus: | Vaccinium |
Species: | V. ovatum |
Binomial name | |
Vaccinium ovatum Pursh 1813 | |
Vaccinium ovatum is a North American species of flowering shrub known by the common names evergreen huckleberry, winter huckleberry, cynamoka berry and California huckleberry. [1] [2] Vaccinium ovatum is classified in phylum: Magnoliaphyta, order: Ericales, family: Ericaceae, genus: Vaccinium , and species: ovatum. [3]
It is found on the western side of the Cascade Range in North America. [2] It is a tall woody shrub that produces fleshy, edible berries in the summer. [2] The plant is used for food, natural landscaping, and floral arrangements. [2] [3] [4] [5]
Vaccinium ovatum is an erect shrub that grows from 0.5 to 3 meters tall and is considered a slow growing plant. [3] The shrub has woody stems with bright red bark. [1] The leaves are waxy, alternately arranged with margins of about 2–5 cm, and are egg-shaped. [2] Leaf size is about 2 to 3 centimeters (0.8–1.2 inches) long and about a centimeter wide (0.4 inches) with finely serrated edges. [2] The leaves are a variety of colors from dark green to bright red. [3] This is caused by different intensities of sun exposure. [3] Sun exposure produces redder leaves. [3]
Vaccinium ovatum produces flowers in the early spring through early summer with white and light pink flowers. [2] These flowers are urceolate, meaning they hang down below the stem they are growing from. [2] The flowers are also bisexual, meaning they possess both organs that produce microgametes, and megagametes. [1] These flowers have five flower parts, and through the lifecycle eventually form a five-chamber fleshy berry. [2] [3] The multiples of five classify Vaccinium ovatum as a dicot. [6]
Berries are produced and ripen through the summer and into fall. [2] The berries remain on the shrub for up to a month before falling to the ground. [2] The berries are a dark purple to black color and are a little under a centimeter (0.4 inches) in diameter when ripe. [2] They are edible, [2] but have tartness likely due to their high content of phenolic acids, producing a pH of about 2.6. [7]
Vaccinium ovatum is typically diploid, [2] although research has found rare naturally occurring tetraploids as well as lab-produced tetraploids. [2] Tetraploidy also provides the individual with better disease prevention due to the increased genetic diversity. [2]
The primary habitat for Vaccinium ovatum consists of moist, yet well drained and acidic soil. [1] [2] [3] As many plants, Vaccinium ovatum thrives in the sun but is also very tolerant of shade. [3] These preferred conditions can all be found west of the Cascade Mountain range where this species is often found thriving. [2] Though Vaccinium ovatum can be found in the higher elevations of Southern California, they are primarily found in the coastal forests of Northern California, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia, [1] where it can grow in the salt spray. [3]
Vaccinium ovatum is an understory bush, often dominant in its habitat. [3] Other species commonly found growing near V. parvifolium (Red Huckleberries), and Symphoricarpos albus (common snowberry). [2] Vaccinuim ovatum appear to thrive better in old growth forests. [3] This is most likely because they are a slow growing plant and require more time to reach maturity. [3]
Vaccinium ovatum interacts with many other species for reasons spanning from resource competition to seed dispersal. [3] [6] V. ovatum also provides food for animals, facilitating seed dispersal. [3] [6] In addition to seed dispersal, V. ovatum relies on other species to disperse their pollen (pollination). [2] Their flowers are insect pollinated. [2] Vaccinium ovatum is a common food source for migrating birds. [5]
American botanist J.M. Bigelow wrote about the plant in 1853. [4] From the 1930s to 1950s, some 500-1000 tons were shipped to Europe for domestic sale per year. [3] Because the beautiful stems and leaves were so popular in floral arrangements in the early 20th century, Vaccinium ovatum became scarce. [4] In an effort to keep them from becoming legally endangered, Frank Moll, transplanted healthy specimens to his property where he started a nursery. [4] Moll died in 1960, but his nursery continued to thrive even without his care. [4]
In 2003, Vaccinium ovatum populations became infected with a fungal disease caused by Pucciniastrum goeppertianum (witches' broom). [4] The disease caused stem proliferation and decreased berry production, but did not kill the plants. [4]
Native Americans have historically used the berries for food and traditional medicine purposes. [1] [3]
Berries are consumed raw, cooked, or dried. [4] They are also incorporated into many common food items, such as pies, pancakes, muffins, other pastries, as well as jams, jellies, wine, and tea. [4]
Vaccinium ovatum is grown as an ornamental plant for horticultural use by specialty wholesale, retail, and garden nurseries. [3] [4] The plant is successful in natural landscape and native plant palette style, and habitat gardens and public sustainable landscape and restoration projects that are similar to its habitat conditions. [3] They are not grown commercially. [1] [2]
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.
Frangula californica is a species of flowering plant in the buckthorn family native to western North America. It produces edible fruits and seeds. It is commonly known as California coffeeberry and California buckthorn.
Vaccinium corymbosum, the northern highbush blueberry, is a North American species of blueberry which has become a food crop of significant economic importance. It is native to eastern Canada and the eastern and southern United States, from Ontario east to Nova Scotia and south as far as Florida and eastern Texas. It is also naturalized in other places: Europe, Japan, New Zealand, the Pacific Northwest of North America, etc. Other common names include blue huckleberry, tall huckleberry, swamp huckleberry, high blueberry, and swamp blueberry.
Vaccinium parvifolium, the red huckleberry, is a species of Vaccinium native to western North America.
Huckleberry Botanic Regional Preserve is a 241 acres (0.98 km2) regional park and nature reserve in the Oakland Hills, in the eastern East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area of California. It is within Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. It is a park within the East Bay Regional Parks District system. The Preserve is named after the California Huckleberry which grows abundantly within its habitat.
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.
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.
Blueberry is a widely distributed and widespread group of perennial flowering plant with blue or purple berries. They are classified in the section Cyanococcus within the genus Vaccinium. Vaccinium also includes cranberries, bilberries, huckleberries and Madeira blueberries. Commercial blueberries—both wild (lowbush) and cultivated (highbush)—are all native to North America. The highbush varieties were introduced into Europe during the 1930s.
Xylococcus is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the heather family which contains the single species Xylococcus bicolor, commonly known as the mission manzanita. It is a burl-forming, evergreen shrub with leathery leaves and smooth dark reddish bark. From December to February, white to pink urn-shaped flowers adorn the foliage, often attracting hummingbird pollinators. It is native to southern California and the Baja California Peninsula, south to the Sierra de la Giganta. There is growing concern over the future of this plant, referred to as the "queen of the elfin forest, " as it may possibly lose up to 88% of its habitat and its wild seedlings are failing to survive more than a full year.
Huckleberry is a name used in North America for several plants in the family Ericaceae, in two closely related genera: Vaccinium and Gaylussacia.
Vaccinium deliciosum is a species of bilberry known by the common names Cascade bilberry, Cascade blueberry, and blueleaf huckleberry.
Vaccinium membranaceum is a species within the group of Vaccinium commonly referred to as huckleberry. This particular species is known by the common names thinleaf huckleberry, tall huckleberry, big huckleberry, mountain huckleberry, square-twig blueberry, and (ambiguously) as "black huckleberry".
Vaccinium scoparium is a species of huckleberry known by the common names grouse whortleberry, grouseberry, and littleleaf huckleberry.
Rhamnus lycioides, the black hawthorn, European buckthorn, or Mediterranean buckthorn, is a shrub up to about 1 metre tall in the buckthorn family, Rhamnaceae. It is found in the Mediterranean region, in southern Europe and northern Africa. Its scientific name lycioides refers to its resemblance to the botanical genus Lycium.
Gaylussacia dumosa is a species of flowering plant in the heath family known by the common names dwarf huckleberry, bush huckleberry, and gopherberry. It is native to eastern North America from Newfoundland to Louisiana and Florida. It occurs along the coastal plain and in the mountains.
Gaylussacia frondosa is a species of flowering plant in the heath family known by the common names dangleberry and blue huckleberry. It is native to the eastern United States, where it occurs from New Hampshire to South Carolina.
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.
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.
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.
Hawaiian Vaccinium (blueberries) is a monophyletic group comprising three species endemic to the archipelago of Hawaii: Vaccinium reticulatum, Vaccinium dentatum and Vaccinium calycinum, all commonly known in Hawaii as ʻōhelo.