Briefing of Blueberry

Blueberries are a widespread, widespread perennial group of flowering plants with blue or purple fruit.They are classified in the Cyanobacteriaceae family of the genus Vaccinium.Lingonberries also include cranberries, lingonberries, lingonberries, and Madeira blueberries.Commercial blueberries both wild (lowbush) and cultivated (highbush) are native to North America.Highbush varieties were introduced to Europe in the 1930s.Blueberries are usually creeping shrubs ranging in size from 10 cm (4 in) to 4 m (13 ft). In the commercial production of blueberries, the small, pea-sized berries that grow on low shrubs are called "lowbush blueberries" (synonymous with "wild"), while the larger berries that grow on taller cultivated shrubs are called "lowbush blueberries." Known as "lowbush blueberry" as "highbush blueberry".Canada is a major producer of lowbush blueberries, while the United States produces approximately 40% of the world's supply of highbush blueberries.

Origin and history of cultivation

Vaccinium is mainly distributed in the polar regions, mainly in North America, Europe and Asia.Many commercial varieties with English common names (including "blueberry") come from North America,especially wild (lowbush) blueberries in Atlantic Canada and the northeastern United States, as well as several U.S.states and British Columbia of cultivated (highbush) blueberries.Wild blueberries have been eaten by Aboriginal people in Canada for thousands of years.Highbush blueberries were first grown in New Jersey in the early 20th century.Blueberries native to North America are grown commercially in Australia, New Zealand and South American countries in the Southern Hemisphere.The Colombian or Andean blueberry Vaccinium meridionale is wild harvested and commonly found locally.Several other wild shrubs of the genus Vaccinium also produce commonly eaten blue berries, such as mainly Vaccinium bilberry and others, whose name translates in English as "blueberry" in many languages.

Description

There are five species of wild blueberries in Canada, including Vaccinium myrtilloides, Vaccinium angustifolium and Vaccinium corymbosum, which grow on forest floors or near swamps.Wild (lowbush) blueberries are not grown by farmers but managed in berry fields called "barrens".Wild blueberries reproduce by cross-pollination, where each seed produces a plant with a different genetic composition, resulting in differences within the same species in growth, productivity, color, leaf characteristics, disease resistance, flavor, and other fruit characteristics.The mother plant grows underground stems called rhizomes that allow the plant to form a network of rhizomes forming a large mass (called a clone) that is genetically distinct.Flower and leaf buds develop intermittently along the stem of the plant, with each flower bud producing 5-6 flowers and eventually fruit.Wild blueberries prefer acidic soil with a pH between 4.2 and 5.2 and only moderate moisture.They are hardy in the Canadian range and in Maine, USA.Fruit productivity of lowbush blueberries varies with degree of pollination, clonal genetics, soil fertility, water availability, insect infestations, plant diseases, and local growing conditions.Wild (lowbush) blueberries have an average ripe weight of 0.3 g (1⁄128 oz).

Highbush (cultivated) blueberries like sandy or loamy soils, have a shallow root system, and benefit from mulch and fertilizer.Highbush blueberry leaves can be deciduous or evergreen, ovate to lanceolate, 1–8 cm (1⁄2–3+1⁄4 in) long and 0.5–3.5 cm (1⁄4–1 +3⁄8 in.) wide. The flowers are bell-shaped, white, pale pink, or red, sometimes with greenish tinges.The fruits are berries, 5–16 mm (3⁄16–5⁄8 in) in diameter, ending in a trumpet-shaped crown; they are pale green at first, then reddish-purple, and finally uniformly blue when ripe.They are covered with a protective coating of powdered cuticle wax, colloquially called "blooms."They are usually sweet when ripe, with variable acidity.Blueberry bushes usually fruit in the middle of the growing season: fruiting time is influenced by local conditions such as climate, altitude and latitude, so harvest time in the Northern Hemisphere may vary from May to August.