Vaccinium corymbosum

Author: Shaun Cristin McGuinn

Common Names(Cronquist, 1991)

  • Highbush Blueberry
  • Tall Blueberry
  • Common Blueberry


Higher Taxa:(Cronquist, 1991)

  • Class: Magnoliopsida
  • SubClass: Dilleniidae
  • Order: Ericales
  • Family: Ericaceae
  • Tribe: Vacciniaceae
  • Genus: Vaccinium
  • Species: Corymbosum

 

Identification:

According to Radford, Ahles, and Bell this species is an "erect shrub, with 1to several trunks from the base, 1.3-5m tall; twigs glabrous. Leaves glabrous, often glaucous, particularly when young, elliptic to elliptic-lanceolate, 4-8 cm long, 1.5-4 cm wide, acute, entire, base usually cuneate. Racemes terminal and/or auxillary; the bracts caducous. Calyx lobes triangular-oval, 0.5-2 mm long and wide, spreading; corolla white, urceolate, 8-11 mm long, 4-6 mm broad. Berry glaucous, blue, 5-10 mm in diam, juicy."(Radford, 1968) Vines more descriptive identification verifies that the twigs when young are slender, yellowish green with warty excrescences. As they get older the twigs turn brown to gray. This species varies in size and aspect. There could be several-stems which form individual plants or runners that form dense colonies. The berry can be shiny black, black with blue bloom, or blue. Grown in clusters at end of short nearly leafless branch.(Vines, 1960)

A Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, Carl Linneaus, named Vaccinium corymbosum. He main herbabariums are the Linnean Herbabarium in London and Stockholm. The one in Stockholm is species he gave to his sons or colleagues.(Stafleu, 1981)

Geography:

V. corymbosum culture started in the early 1900's by F.V. Coville and Elizabeth White. It spreads across the southeastern United and into Canada. It has to have regular rainfall with160 growing days in the summer. It is native to North America; however, it is predominately popular in Australia"the land of the blueberry industry."(Clayton-Greene, 1993)Its range is from Nova Scotia to southern Quebec and Wisconsin and south to Florida and Louisiana.(Grimm, 1966) It spreads across Germany, China, Russia, Siberia, and countries in South America such as Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile.(Small, 1933)

Table I: North American Distribution of V. Corymbosum

Vaccinium Corymbosum

AREA STATUS REFERENCES
North America:
Continental United States; Canada		 Yes Grimm, 1966
Eastern North America:
United States east of Mississippi;
Ontario and eastern Canada		 Yes Grimm, 1966
Southeastern United States:
AL AR DE DC FL GA KY MD NC SC TN VA WV		 Yes Radford, Ahles, & Bell 1968
Southern Appalachian States:
AL GA KY MD NC SC TN VA WV		 Yes Radford, Ahles, & Bell 1968
Coastal Plain Yes Radford, Ahles & Bell, 1968;
Piedmont Yes Grimm, 1966;
Blue Ridge Mountains Yes Vander Kloet, 1988
Great Smoky Mountains National Park ? Vander Kloet, 1968
Ridge and Valley Yes Vander Kloet, 1988
Cumberland Plateau Yes Vander Kloet, 1988
Central Arch Yes Vander Kloet, 1988
Georgia Widespread Jones & Coile, 1988
Clarke County, Georgia No Jones & Coile, 1988
Sams Farm No Shaun McGuinn, Pers. Guess
Old Field No Shaun McGuinn, Pers. Guess
Wetland No Shaun McGuinn, Pers. Guess
Wood No Shaun McGuinn, Pers. Guess
1-Hectare Plot No Shaun McGuinn, Pers. Guess.

Figure 2. Images of Vaccinium corymbosum illustrating different reproductive phases.

Figure 1A. V. corymbosum flower
V. corymbosum flower (U.G.A. Herbarium)
Univ. of Georgia Herbarium Slide Collection
Scanned by Elizabeth Skillen

 

For additional pictures ofcorymbosum

Natural Histroy:

Corymbosum means clustered flowers. (Vines, 1960) It is the common blueberry or blue-huckleberry.(Fiender, 1950) Species exhibits greatest variety of forms. It is two-thirds of the total blueberry production. Self-fruitful. Bloom date is a highly heritable trait. Blueberry blight-Botryosphaeriadothidea with rapid wilting and browning or reddening of leaves and then death.(Clayton-Greene, 1993) There is a lack of root hair but the underside of leaves may be hairy or smooth. Theses fruit are eaten by mourning dove, ruffled grouse, ring-necked pheasant, and cotton tail. The berries are sweet or acidic. The leaves add scarlet and orange colorings to autumnal swamp foliage. Also, the twigs go from a reddish color after being a yellowish-green in the summer and spring.(Peterson, 1908) You can find the blueberries at Simmons Berry Farm

How to encounter:

It blooms late February to May and then June to August. It is located on bogs, pocosins, pine barrens, and rarely in upland woods. It is most luxuriant in swamps or old pastures .(Radford, 1968) It is located in old fields from the coastal plain to the mountain tops.(Peterson, 1908) This particular species is not located on Sams Farm, because it is not believed to be in Clarke County

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