Солтүстік ақжеміш – Vaccinium corymbosum сипаттамасы

Species of plant

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 corymbosum is a deciduous shrub growing to tall and wide. It is often found in dense thickets. The dark glossy green leaves are elliptical and up to long. In autumn, the leaves turn to a brilliant red, orange, yellow, and/or purple. The flowers are long bell or urn shaped white to very light pink, long. The species is tetraploid and does not self pollinate. Most cultivars have a chilling requirement greater than 800 hours.

Many wild species of Vaccinium are thought to have been cultivated by Native Americans for thousands of years, with intentional crop burnings in northeastern areas being apparent from archeological evidence. The berries were collected and used in Native American cuisine in areas where Vaccinium corymbosum grew as a native plant.

Some named Southern highbush blueberry are hybridized forms derived from crosses between V. corymbosum and Vaccinium darrowii, a native of the Southeastern U. S. These hybrids and other cultivars of V. darrowii (Southern highbush blueberry) have been developed for cultivation in warm southern and western regions of North America.