Vaccinium oxycoccos

Vaccinium oxycoccos
fruit on a bed of Sphagnum rubellum

Secure  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: Ericales
Family: Ericaceae
Genus: Vaccinium
Species: V. oxycoccos
Binomial name
Vaccinium oxycoccos
L. 1753
Synonyms[1][2]

Vaccinium oxycoccos is a species of flowering plant in the heath family. It is known by the common names small cranberry, bog cranberry, swamp cranberry,[3] or, particularly in Britain and The Netherlands, just cranberry.[4] It is widespread throughout the cool temperate northern hemisphere, including northern Europe, northern Asia and northern North America.[3]

This cranberry is a small, prostrate shrub with vine-like stems that root at the nodes. The leaves are leathery and lance-shaped, up to 1 cm (0.39 in) long.[3] Flowers arise on nodding stalks a few centimeters tall. The corolla is white or pink and flexed backward away from the center of the flower. The fruit is a red berry which has spots when young. It measures up to 1.2 cm (0.47 in) wide.[2][5] The plant forms associations with mycorrhizae. It mainly reproduces vegetatively.[3]

Vaccinium oxycoccos is a widespread and common species.[6][7][8][9] It is an indicator of moist to wet soils which are low in nitrogen and have a high water table. It is an indicator of coniferous swamps. It grows in bogs and fens in moist forest habitat. It grows on peat which may be saturated most of the time. The soil in bogs is acidic and low in nutrients. The plant's mycorrhizae help it obtain nutrients in this situation. Fens have somewhat less acidic soil, which is also higher in nutrients. The plant can often be found growing on hummocks of Sphagnum mosses. In North America, other species found in this forest understory habitat include leatherleaf (Chamaedaphne calyculata), bog rosemary (Andromeda glaucophylla), bog laurel (Kalmia polifolia), pitcher plant (Sarracenia purpurea), Labrador tea (Rhododendron groenlandicum), cloudberry (Rubus chamaemorus), rhodora (Rhododendron canadense), glossy buckthorn (Rhamnus frangula), sundew (Drosera spp.), cottonsedge (Eriophorum virginatum and E. angustifolium), and species of sedge and lichen. The plant easily colonizes bog habitat that has recently burned. It survives fire with its underground rhizomes.[2][3]

Vaccinium oxycoccos has been used as a medicine and as a food by various Native American communities. Some Iñupiat cook the cranberry with fish eggs and blubber.[10][11]

References

  1. ↑ The Plant List, Vaccinium oxycoccos L.
  2. 1 2 3 Flora of China, Vaccinium oxycoccus Linnaeus, 1753. 红莓苔子 hong mei tai zi
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Matthews, Robin F. 1992. Vaccinium oxycoccos. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory.
  4. ↑ Stace, Clive (2010), New Flora of the British Isles (3rd ed.), Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, p. 512, ISBN 978-0-521-70772-5
  5. ↑ Flora of North America, Vaccinium oxycoccos Linnaeus, 1753. Small cranberry, canneberge commune .
  6. ↑ Vaccinium oxycoccos. NatureServe.
  7. ↑ Biota of North America Program 2014 state-level distribution map
  8. ↑ Tela Botanica, Vaccinium oxycoccos L., Canneberge in French with photos, description, French distribution map
  9. ↑ Altervista Flora Italiana, Mirtillo palustre, Vaccinium oxycoccos L. includes photos, European distribution map
  10. ↑ Jones, Anore (1983). "Nauriat niginaqtuat (Plants that we eat)". Maniilaq Association Traditional Nutrition Program. Kotzebue, Alaska: 104. According to the brief annotation in Anonymous (2003, unpaginated webpage).
  11. ↑ Anonymous (2003). "Search results for Vaccinium oxycoccos". Native American Ethnobotany. Dearborn, MI: University of Michigan-Dearborn. Retrieved 15 June 2012.
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