2. Vaccinium corymbosum L. (highbush blueberry, swamp blueberry)
Cyanococcus
corymbosus (L.) Rydb.
Map 1646
Plants medium to
tall shrubs 1–3 m tall. Bark reddish brown to grayish brown, longitudinally
furrowed, peeling in thin plates with age. Twigs glabrous to densely hairy,
sometimes glaucous, green to yellowish green or reddish green, becoming brown
with age. Leaf blades 15–50(–80) mm long, 8–25 mm wide, relatively thin, not
leathery, narrowly elliptic-oblanceolate to ovate, the tip usually sharply
pointed (sometimes acutely narrowed to a blunt point), the margins entire or
with small, nonglandular teeth toward the tip, sometimes curled under,
otherwise usually glabrous, the upper surface glabrous, not waxy, dull, the
undersurface dull, usually glabrous, pale or glaucous, rarely with a few tiny,
yellow resinous glands. Inflorescences condensed, umbellate racemes, lacking
leaflike bracts at the base of each flower stalk, but with small, scalelike,
reddish bracts. Flower stalks 6–8 mm long, with a conspicuous collarlike joint
at the junction with the flower. Calyx lobes 1.5–2.0 mm long, glabrous, often
glaucous and/or waxy, rarely with a few tiny, yellow resinous glands. Corollas
8–10 mm long, 4–6 mm in diameter, tubular to narrowly urn-shaped, white to
greenish pink, shallowly lobed, the lobes reflexed. Stamens not exserted,
lacking spurs at the filament-anther junction, the filaments flattened, hairy
along the margins, the anthers tapered to tubules 3–4 mm long. Styles 7–8 mm
long, slightly exserted. Fruits 5–12 mm in diameter, blue, not shiny, glaucous.
2n=24, 48, 72. April–May.
Possibly
introduced, uncommon, known thus far from a historical, potentially native
population in Newton County and a more recent, introduced occurrence in Ste.
Genevieve County (eastern U.S. west to Wisconsin, Illinois, Oklahoma, and
Texas). Dry upland forests on ridgetops, thus far only on sandstone substrate.
This species is
an important fruit crop in the eastern and midwestern United States. More than
50 cultivars have been released, some with very large and juicy berries. At the
site in Ste. Genevieve County, plants apparently became naturalized from
adjacent plantings at homesites. The berries are eaten raw, cooked in pies,
jams, and jellies, and dried for future use. Three distinct polyploid groups
are known, and hybridization with V. pallidum is said to occur (Vander
Kloet, 1988).