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| ## highbush Blueberry {#highbush-blueberry .Title-Header}             |
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| *Vaccinium corymbosum* L.                                             |
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| Plant Symbol = VACO                                                   |
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Contributed by: USDA NRCS National Plant Data Center & the Biota of
North America Program

### 

## Alternate Names

Northern highbush blueberry, southeastern highbush blueberry, Maryland
highbush blueberry, black highbush blueberry, American blueberry, New
Jersey blueberry, rabbiteye blueberry, swamp blueberry, tall
huckleberry, mayberry, whortleberry

## Uses

Highbush blueberry is the major blueberry of commerce. It is extensively
cultivated in New Jersey, Michigan, North Carolina, and Washington and
to a lesser extent in Georgia, Florida, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New
York, Massachusetts, British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec, and Nova Scotia.
In 1989, there were over 100,000 acres in commercial fruit production in
North America. More than 50 cultivars highbush blueberry have been
developed, primarily based on selections for commercially valuable fruit
characteristics and seasonality. Good summaries of information relating
to commercial fruit production are available (see Reiger 2000; Garrison
1998). A few selections are used in landscaping, especially where they
might be planted in wet places and to attract wildlife.

The berries are eaten raw, smoke­dried, sun-dried, boiled, and baked \--
in a wide variety of culinary settings. They have one of the highest
concentrations of iron of the temperate fruits. The fruits provide
important summer and early fall food for numerous species of game birds,
songbirds, and mammals.

## Status

Please consult the PLANTS Web site and your State Department of Natural
Resources for this plant's current status, such as, state noxious status
and wetland indicator values.

## Description![](media/image2.jpeg){width="2.598611111111111in" height="1.7354166666666666in"}

*General*: Heath family (Ericaceae). Native shrubs 2-3(-4) meters tall,
crown-forming, forming dense colonies, the twigs warty and yellow-green,
glabrous. Leaves deciduous, alternate, simple, narrow to broadly
elliptic or ovate, 3.8-8.2 cm long, pubescent at least on the veins
beneath, slightly waxy above, the edges smooth and ciliate to toothed.
Flowers 8-10 in a cluster, 6-12 mm long, urn-shaped, white, with 5
petals. Fruits berries are 5-12 mm wide, blue to blue-black and
many-seeded. The common name refers to the relatively tall stature of
these plants.

*Variation within the species*: The highbush blueberry complex is highly
variable and includes diploids, tetraploids, hexaploids, and various
hybrid combinations. Recent studies (Vander Kloet in 1980 and 1988) have
recommended treating the complex very broadly, using only the single
name *V. corymbosum*, but not all authors have accepted that (for
example, see Uttall 1986, 1987). As treated in the PLANTS database, the
complex includes a group of interrelated species that have generally
been recognized as "highbush" blueberries -- these species\* (or
hybrids), with synonyms, are listed below.

*\* Vaccinium X atlanticum* Bicknell

*\* Vaccinium corymbosum* L.

synonym: *Vaccinium constablaei* Gray

*\* Vaccinium formosum* Andr.

synonym: *Vaccinium australe* Small

*\* Vaccinium fuscatum* Ait.

synonym: *Vaccinium arkansanum* Ashe

synonym *Vaccinium atrococcum* (Gray) Heller

synonym *Vaccinium fuscatum* Aiton

*\*Vaccinium simulatum* Small

*\*Vaccinium virgatum* Ait.

synonym: *Vaccinium amoenum* Aiton

synonym: *Vaccinium ashei* Reade

Highbush blueberry (*V. corymbosum***)** hybridizes with one of the
"lowbush" blueberries (*V. angustifolium* Ait.). Hybrids used in
commercial fruit production are *V. corymbosum* X *V. darrowi* (southern
highbush blueberry), (*V. arboreum* X *V. darrowi*) x *V. corymbosum*
(pollen donor), and southern highbush blueberry hybrids X *V.
simulatum*.

*Distribution*: Widespread in eastern North America, from Nova Scotia,
New Brunswick, Quebec, and Ontario, Maine to Wisconsin, southward to
South Carolina and Georgia and along the Gulf coast to Arkansas,
Louisiana, east Texas, and Oklahoma. It has been introduced outside of
its natural range for commercial berry production in Wisconsin,
Washington, British Columbia, and New Brunswick. For current
distribution, please consult the Plant Profile page for this species on
the PLANTS Web site.

## Adaptation

Highbush blueberry grows best and most commonly in moist or wet peat of
moderate to high acidity -- in and around marshes, swamps, and lakes,
often with extended flooding, as well as on floodplains, sheltered
slopes, and ravines. It also occurs in drier areas -- dunes and barrier
beaches, rocky hillsides, oak woods, and pine woods. It occurs as a
dominant or co-dominant on Appalachian \"heath balds.\" All of these are
more or less open sites, and because of its shade intolerance, highbush
blueberry can be eliminated as shading increases with overstory cover.
Flowering (February-)March-June, sporadically in the southern portion of
its range; fruiting (April-)May-October, about 62 days after flowering.

## Establishment

Highbush blueberry produces abundant fruit every year. Bees are the
primary pollinator. The seeds may be widely dispersed in bird and mammal
droppings, but germination success can be reduced up to 15% after
passing through an animal gut. In the southern portion of its range,
highbush blueberry seeds have thick seed coats and require cold
stratification before germination. Those from northern regions produce
thinner seed coats and germinate in the autumn after dispersal.

Some reports describe vigorous sprouting from the root-crown in highbush
blueberry after top-kill by fire or disturbance, while others note that
sprouting is uncommon. This perhaps reflects the variability (and
perhaps the taxonomic uncertainty) that exists within the species
complex. Plants also have been noted to occasionally produce root
sprouts 1-2 meters away from the parent.

## Management

Seeds or cuttings can propagate plants of highbush blueberry. Ideal soil
for cultivation is moist, high in organic matter, highly acidic
(4.5-5.5), and well drained. The plants grow in full sun to partial
shade, but those in open sites produce more flowers and have brighter
fall foliage color. Highbush blueberry (*V. corymbosum*) is
self-fertile, but cross-pollination increases fruit set and results in
larger, earlier berries with more seeds (see Agriculture Western
Australia 2000). Other species of the complex are partially or
completely self-incompatible.

## Cultivars, Improved and Selected Materials (and area of origin)

These plant materials are readily available from commercial sources.
Contact your local Natural Resources Conservation Service (formerly Soil
Conservation Service) office for more information. Look in the phone
book under "United States Government." The Natural Resources
Conservation Service will be listed under the subheading "Department of
Agriculture."

## References

Agriculture Western Australia 2000. *Bee pollination benefits for
blueberry crops*. Web site.

\<http://www.agric.wa.gov.au/programs/dairy/apiculture/blueberry.htm#ref10\>

Camp, W.H. 1945. *The North American blueberries with notes on other
groups of Vacciniaceae*. Brittonia 5:203-275.

Garrison, N. 1998. *Descriptions of blueberry varieties in trial
conducted by Nancy Garrison*. Master Gardeners of Santa Clara County
Online. Univ. of California Cooperative Extension, Urban Horticulture
Program. \<http://www.mastergardeners.org/recommend/bluevar.html\>

Reiger, M. 2000. *Mark's fruit crops*. Univ. of Georgia, Dept. of
Horticulture. Web site.
\<http://www.uga.edu/hortcrop/rieger/index.html\>

Uchytil, R.J. 1993. *Vaccinium corymbosum*. IN: W.C. Fischer (compiler).
*The fire effects information system* \[Data base\]. U.S.D.A., Forest
Service, Intermountain Research Station, Intermountain Fire Sciences
Laboratory, Missoula, Montana. \<http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/\>

Uttal, L.J. 1986. *Updating the genus Vaccinium (Ericaceae) in West
Virginia*. Castanea 51:197-201.

Uttal, L.J. 1987. *The genus Vaccinium L. (Ericaceae) in Virginia*.
Castanea 52:231-255.

Vander Kloet, S.P. 1980. *The taxonomy of the highbush blueberry,
Vaccinium corymbosum*. Canad. J. Bot. 58:1187-1201.

Vander Kloet, S.P. 1988. *The genus Vaccinium in North America*.
Research Branch, Agriculture Canada, Publ. 1828.

## Prepared By

*Guy Nesom*

Formerly BONAP, North Carolina Botanical Garden, University of North
Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

## Species Coordinator

### Gerald Guala

USDA, NRCS, National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Edited 17jan01 jsp;060818 jsp

For more information about this and other plants, please contact your
local NRCS field office or Conservation District, and visit the PLANTS
Web site\<[http://plants.usda.gov](http://plants.usda.gov/)\> or the
Plant Materials Program Web site
\<[http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov](http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov/)\>

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