Vaccinium ovatum

Vaccinium ovatum

Berry

Flower
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Ericales
Family:	Ericaceae
Genus:	Vaccinium
Species:	V. ovatum
Binomial name
*Vaccinium ovatum* Pursh 1813

Vaccinium ovatum is a North American species of flowering shrub known by the common names evergreen huckleberry, winter huckleberry, cynamoka berry and California huckleberry.^[1]^[2] Vaccinium ovatum is classified in phylum: Magnoliaphyta, order: Ericales, family: Ericaceae, genus: Vaccinium, and species: ovatum.^[3]

It is found on the western side of the Cascade Range in North America.^[2] It is a tall woody shrub that produces fleshy, edible berries in the summer.^[2] The plant is used for food, natural landscaping, and floral arrangements.^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]

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Description

Vaccinium ovatum is an erect shrub that grows from 0.5 to 3 meters tall and is considered a slow growing plant.^[3] The shrub has woody stems with bright red bark.^[1] The leaves are waxy, alternately arranged with margins of about 2–5 cm, and are egg-shaped.^[2] Leaf size is about 2 to 3 centimeters (0.8–1.2 inches) long and about a centimeter wide (0.4 inches) with finely serrated edges.^[2] The leaves are a variety of colors from dark green to bright red.^[3] This is caused by different intensities of sun exposure.^[3] Sun exposure produces redder leaves.^[3]

Vaccinium ovatum produces flowers in the early spring through early summer with white and light pink flowers.^[2] These flowers are urceolate, meaning they hang down below the stem they are growing from.^[2] The flowers are also bisexual, meaning they possess both organs that produce microgametes, and megagametes.^[1] These flowers have five flower parts, and through the lifecycle eventually form a five-chamber fleshy berry.^[2]^[3] The multiples of five classify Vaccinium ovatum as a dicot.^[6]

Berries are produced and ripen through the summer and into fall.^[2] The berries remain on the shrub for up to a month before falling to the ground.^[2] The berries are a dark purple to black color and are a little under a centimeter (0.4 inches) in diameter when ripe.^[2] They are edible,^[2] but have tartness likely due to their high content of phenolic acids, producing a pH of about 2.6.^[7]

Vaccinium ovatum is typically diploid,^[2] although research has found rare naturally occurring tetraploids as well as lab-produced tetraploids.^[2] Tetraploidy also provides the individual with better disease prevention due to the increased genetic diversity.^[2]

Habitat

The primary habitat for Vaccinium ovatum consists of moist, yet well drained and acidic soil.^[1]^[2]^[3] As many plants, Vaccinium ovatum thrives in the sun but is also very tolerant of shade.^[3] These preferred conditions can all be found west of the Cascade Mountain range where this species is often found thriving.^[2] Though Vaccinium ovatum can be found in the higher elevations of Southern California, they are primarily found in the coastal forests of Northern California, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia,^[1] where it can grow in the salt spray.^[3]

Vaccinium ovatum is an understory bush, often dominant in its habitat.^[3] Other species commonly found growing nearby are V. parvifolium (Red Huckleberries) and Symphoricarpos albus (common snowberry).^[2] Vaccinuim ovatum appear to thrive better in old growth forests.^[3] This is most likely because they are a slow growing plant and require more time to reach maturity.^[3]

Ecology

Vaccinium ovatum interacts with many other species for reasons spanning from resource competition to seed dispersal.^[3]^[6] V. ovatum also provides food for animals, facilitating seed dispersal.^[3]^[6] In addition to seed dispersal, V. ovatum relies on other species to disperse their pollen (pollination).^[2] Their flowers are insect pollinated.^[2] Vaccinium ovatum is a common food source for migrating birds.^[5]

History

American botanist J.M. Bigelow wrote about the plant in 1853.^[4] From the 1930s to 1950s, some 500–1000 tons were shipped to Europe for domestic sale per year.^[3] Because the beautiful stems and leaves were so popular in floral arrangements in the early 20th century, Vaccinium ovatum became scarce.^[4] In an effort to keep them from becoming legally endangered, Frank Moll, transplanted healthy specimens to his property where he started a nursery.^[4] Moll died in 1960, but his nursery continued to thrive even without his care.^[4]

In 2003, Vaccinium ovatum populations became infected with a fungal disease caused by Pucciniastrum goeppertianum (witches' broom).^[4] The disease caused stem proliferation and decreased berry production, but did not kill the plants.^[4]

Native Americans have historically used the berries for food and traditional medicine purposes.^[1]^[3]

Uses

Culinary

Berries are consumed raw, cooked, or dried.^[4] They are also incorporated into many common food items, such as pies, pancakes, muffins, other pastries, as well as jams, jellies, wine, and tea.^[4]

Cultivation

Vaccinium ovatum is grown as an ornamental plant for horticultural use by specialty wholesale, retail, and garden nurseries.^[3]^[4] The plant is successful in natural landscape and native plant palette style, and habitat gardens and public sustainable landscape and restoration projects that are similar to its habitat conditions.^[3] They are not grown commercially.^[1]^[2]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Victoria Triolo (13 April 2014). "Vaccinium ovatum". Plant Propagation Reports, Pennsylvania State University. Retrieved 2023-12-05.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v Neill, Kristin E.; Contreras, Ryan N. (February 2022). "Does Inducing Tetraploidy in Vaccinium ovatum Improve Fruit Traits and Plant Architecture?". HortScience. 57 (2): 312–318. doi:10.21273/HORTSCI16332-21.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s Kerns, Becky K.; Alexander, Susan J.; Bailey, John D. (December 2004). "Huckleberry Abundance, Stand Conditions, and Use in Western Oregon: Evaluating the Role of Forest Management". Economic Botany. 58 (4): 668–678. doi:10.1663/0013-0001(2004)058[0668:HASCAU]2.0.CO;2. S2CID 38058760.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j Postman, Joseph D (July 2004). "An Evergreen Huckleberry Industry near the Oregon Coast Early in the 20th Century". Journal of the American Pomological Society. 58 (3): 147–151. ProQuest 209765363.
^ ^a ^b Tietz, James R.; Johnson, Matthew D. (November 2007). "Stopover Ecology and Habitat Selection of Juvenile Swainson's Thrushes During Fall Migration Along the Northern California Coast". The Condor. 109 (4): 795–807. doi:10.1093/condor/109.4.795. hdl:2148/157.
^ ^a ^b ^c Hill, Nicholas M.; Kloet, Sam P. Vander (2005). "Longevity of Experimentally Buried Seed in Vaccinium: Relationship to Climate, Reproductive Factors and Natural Seed Banks". Journal of Ecology. 93 (6): 1167–1176. Bibcode:2005JEcol..93.1167H. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2745.2005.01034.x. JSTOR 3599666.
^ Lee, Jungmin; Finn, Chad E.; Wrolstad, Ronald E. (November 2004). "Comparison of Anthocyanin Pigment and Other Phenolic Compounds of Vaccinium membranaceum and Vaccinium ovatum Native to the Pacific Northwest of North America". Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 52 (23): 7039–7044. doi:10.1021/jf049108e. PMID 15537315.

Bibliography

Foster, Steven; Hobbs, Christopher (2002). Western Medicinal Plants and Herbs. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 287. ISBN 978-0-395-83806-8. OCLC 1064802627.