Lowbush blueberry

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Lowbush Blueberry

Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Order:	Ericales
Family:	Ericaceae
Genus:	Vaccinium
Species:	V. angustifolium

Binomial name

Vaccinium angustifolium
Aiton

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Lowbush Blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium) is a species of blueberry native to eastern and central Canada and the northeastern United States, growing as far south as West Virginia and west to Minnesota and Manitoba.

It is a low spreading deciduous shrub growing to 60 cm tall, though usually 35 cm tall or less.

The leaves are glossy blue-green in summer, turning purple in the fall. The leaf shape is broad to elyptic. Buds are brownish red in stem axels. The flowers are white, bell-shaped, 5 mm long.

The fruit is a small sweet dark blue to black berry. This plant grows best in wooded or open areas with well-drained acidic soils. In some areas it produces natural blueberry barrens, where it is practically the only species covering large areas.

This plant is fire-tolerant and its numbers often increase in an area following a forest fire.

This native plant is also grown commercially in Canada, Maine, and Massachusetts, mainly harvested from managed wild patches. It is also a favorite of recreational berry pickers, black bears, rodents and birds. The Lowbush Blueberry is the state fruit of Maine.

1 The Wild Blueberry - Maine's Native Berry
2 External links

[edit] The Wild Blueberry - Maine's Native Berry

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Maine's 60,000 acres (240 km²) of Wild Blueberries grow naturally in fields and barrens that stretch from Downeast to the state's southwest corner. Adapted to Maine's naturally acid, low fertility soils and challenging winters, Wild Blueberries are a low input crop requiring minimal management. The berries are grown on a two-year cycle — each year, half of a grower's land is managed to encourage vegetative growth and the other half is prepared for a Wild Blueberry harvest in August. After the harvest the plants are pruned to the ground by mowing or burning.

[edit] Integrated Crop Management

Because Wild Blueberries are indigenous to Maine, they are naturally resistant to many native pests. Still, there are times when environmental stressors such as disease, drought, insect pest damage and winter injury can ruin much of the fruit. It is the grower's challenge to minimize such crop damage.

To minimize fruit destruction without harming the environment, growers use continually evolving knowledge-based techniques called Integrated Crop Management (ICM) and Integrated Pest Management (IPM). For example, taking leaf tissue samples to see if plants need to be fertilized is now a common ICM practice. Growers use ICM and IPM throughout the crop cycle to monitor for disease and insect levels that could reduce crop quality and quantity. When critical levels are reached, growers consider a full range of control methods, from cultural techniques to the selective application of pesticides.

[edit] Learning Through Research

Since 1945, Maine's Wild Blueberry growers and processors have provided financial support for research at the University of Maine. Through this successful research partnership, improved cropping practices such as ICM and IPM have been developed. Since the 1980 introduction of the IPM program to monitor and control blueberry fruit fly, the Wild Blueberry's number-one pest, growers have reported a 70 percent reduction in their insecticide use. As a result of using IPM techniques, there are years when growers do not have to treat their fields at all.

Research has been the foundation upon which Maine's growers have been able to triple the state's production of Wild Blueberries. Thanks to advances in ICM and IPM, Maine's growers are better able to work toward minimizing crop loss while sustaining Maine's Wild Blueberry fields and barrens for future generations.

[edit] Wild Blueberries - A Maine Tradition

The Wild Blueberry holds a special place in Maine's agricultural history — one that goes back centuries, to Maine's Native Americans. They were the first to use the tiny blue berries, both fresh and dried, for their flavor, their nutrition and their healing qualities. In the 1840s, Wild Blueberries were first harvested commercially.

Today, with an annual crop valued at more than $75 million, Wild Blueberries make a major contribution to Maine's economy. What's more, thanks to new research on the health and nutritional benefits of blueberries, there is a growing demand for both fresh and processed Wild Blueberries in the U.S. and abroad.

[edit] Preserving Maine's Wild Blueberry Heritage

Wild Blueberries have become a symbol of Maine's agricultural heritage — a heritage that respects and values our environment. Because growers consider the future well-being of the land, neighbors and visitors can continue to enjoy some of Maine's most scenic vistas and precious wildlife habitats.

[edit] Antioxidants

Sweet, tangy and intensely blue, Wild Blueberries are rich in phytonutrients – antioxidants such as anthocyanin, as well as anti-inflammatories. These natural substances, found in fruits and vegetables, are believed to protect against free-radical damage.