Agriculture Canada The Genus Vaccinium 630 . 4 C212 P 1828 North America 1988 c.2 Agriculture aid Agri-Food Canada/ ^ Agnculturo ^^In^iikQ Canada V ^njaian Agriculture Library Brbliotheque Canadienno de taricakun otur #<4*4 /EWHE D* V /^ AgricultureandAgri-FoodCanada/ '%' Agrrtur^'AgrntataireCanada ^M'an *> Agriculture Library v^^pttawa, Ontano K1A 0C5 ^- ^^f ^ ^OlfWNE D£ W| The Genus Vaccinium in North America S.P.VanderKloet Biology Department Acadia University Wolfville, Nova Scotia Research Branch Agriculture Canada Publication 1828 1988 'Minister of Suppl) andS Canada ivhh .\\ ailabla in Canada through Authorized Hook nta ami other books! or by mail from Canadian Government Publishing Centre Supply and Services Canada Ottawa, Canada K1A0S9 Catalogue No.: A43-1828/1988E ISBN: 0-660-13037-8 Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data VanderKloet,S. P. The genus Vaccinium in North America (Publication / Research Branch, Agriculture Canada; 1828) Bibliography: Cat. No.: A43-1828/1988E ISBN: 0-660-13037-8 I. Vaccinium — North America. 2. Vaccinium — North America — Classification. I. Title. II. Canada. Agriculture Canada. Research Branch. III. Series: Publication (Canada. Agriculture Canada). English ; 1828. QK495.E68V3 1988 583'.62 C88-099206-9 Cover illustration Vaccinium oualifolium Smith; watercolor by Lesley R. Bohm. Contract Editor Molly Wolf Staff Editors Sharon Rudnitski Frances Smith ForC.M.Rae Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 with funding from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada - Agriculture et Agroalimentaire Canada http://www.archive.org/details/genusvacciniuminOOvand CONTENTS List of figures vii List of tables ix List of keys ix Foreword x Acknowledgments xi Preface xi Part 1 General discussion 1 Casual usage 1 Cultivation 2 Distribution of the genus Vaccinium in North America 7 Growth and development of Vaccinium 9 Reproduction 11 Pollination 18 Dispersal 21 Reproductive potential 23 Habitat 24 Mycorrhiza 25 Evolution and genetic system 25 Classification 30 Materials 33 Numerical taxonomic methods 36 Results 38 Part 2 Sections and species of Vaccinium in North America 57 Vaccinium sect. Cyanococcus 57 Vaccinium boreale Hall & Aalders 63 Vaccinium myrtilloides Michaux 63 Vaccinium angustifolium Aiton 68 Vaccinium corymbosum Linnaeus 71 Vaccinium pallidum Aiton 76 Vaccinium hirsutum Buckley 79 Vaccinium tenellum Aiton 79 Vaccinium myrsinites Lamarck 84 Vaccinium darrowii Camp 87 Vaccinium sect. Polycodium 90 Vaccinium stamineum Linnaeus 91 Vaccinium sect. Batodendron 95 Vaccinium arboreum Marshall 96 Vaccinium sect. Herpothamnus 99 Vaccinium crassifolium Andrews 99 Vaccinium sect. Oxycoccoides 102 Vaccinium erythrocarpum Michaux 103 Vaccinium sect Oxycoccua 107 \'(u cinium mocrocarpon Alton 109 Vaccinium oxycoccus Linnaeus 1 12 Vctccinium sect, Vitis-idaea 115 Vaccinium vitis-idaea Linnaeus 116 Vaccinium sect. Vaccinium 119 Vaccinium ulimnosum Linnaeus 120 Vaccinium sect. Myrtillus 123 Vaccinium myrtillus Linnaeus 130 Vaccinium caespitosum Michaux 130 Vaccinium ovalifolium Smith 135 Vaccinium membranaceum Douglas ex Hooker 139 Vaccinium deliciosum Piper 142 Vaccinium parvifolium Smith 145 Vaccinium scoparium Leiberg ex Coville 148 Vaccinium geminiflorum Humboldt, Bonpland, & Kunth 148 Vaccinium sect. Pyxothamnus 153 Vaccinium ouatum Pursh 154 Appendix 1 Herbaria and collection sites 157 Appendix 2 List of synonyms for species names 171 References 184 Index to Vaccinium species 199 VI 1 LIST OF FIGURES 1 Stamens from Vaccinium sect. Cyanococcus 12 2 Stamens from Vaccinium sect. Myrtillus and sect. Vaccinium 13 3 Stamens from Vaccinium sect. Batodendron, sect. Polycodium, sect. Vitis-idaea, sect. Oxjcoccws, sect. Oxycoccoides, sect. Herpothamnus, and sect. Pyxothamnus 14 4 Pollen tetrads from some North American species of Vaccinium 16 5 Scanning electron micrographs of Vaccinium seeds 17 6 Cross section of Vaccinium sect. Cyanococcus flower 19 7 Cross section of Vaccinium sect. Myrtillus flower 20 8 Distribution of the diploid lowbush species in Vaccinium sect. Cyanococcus 29 9 Possible evolution of inflorescence types in Vaccinium 32 10 Distribution of collection sites in North America 35 1 Phenographs for the North American species of Vaccinium 42 12 Vaccinium sect. Myrtillus in flower and fruit, 21 July 1980, Mount Seymour, North Vancouver, B.C. 47 13 Areas delineated by vegetative key 49 14 Vaccinium boreale; habit, flower, and stamen 64 15 Distribution of V. boreale Hall & Aalders 65 16 Vaccinium myrtilloides; habit, flower, and stamen 66 17 Distribution of V. myrtilloides Michaux 67 18 Vaccinium ang us tifolium; habit, flower, and stamen 69 19 Distribution of V. angustifolium Aiton 70 20 Vaccinium corymbosum; habit, flower, and stamen 73 21 Growth forms of V. corymbosum 74 22 Distribution of V. corymbosum Linnaeus 75 23 Vaccinium pallidum; habit, flower, and stamen 77 24 Distribution of V. pallidum Aiton 78 25 Vaccinium hirsutum; habit, flower, and stamen 80 26 Distribution of V. hirsutum Buckley 81 27 Vaccinium tenellum; habit, flower, and stamen 82 28 Distribution of V. tenellum Aiton 83 29 Vaccinium myrsinites; habit, flower, and stamen 85 30 Distribution of V. myrsinites Lamarck 86 31 Vaccinium darrowii; habit, flower, and stamen 88 32 Distribution of V. darrowii Camp 89 33 Vaccinium stamineum; habit, flower, and stamen 92 34 Details of the floral architecture of V. stamineum 93 35 Distribution of V. stamineum Linnaeus 94 36 Vaccinium arboreum; habit, flower, and stamen 97 37 Distribution of V. arboreum Marshall 98 38 Vaccinium crassifolium; habit, flower, and stamen 100 39 Distribution of V. crassifolium Andrews 101 40 Vaccinium erythrocarpum; habit, flower, and stamen 105 41 Distribution of V. erythrocarpum Michaux 106 VII 42 Cross sections of Vaccinium seci Oxycoccus seeds 108 43 Vaccinium mocrocarpon; habit, flower, and stamen 110 44 Distribution of V. macrocarpon Alton 111 Vaccinium oxycoccus, habit, flower, and stamen 1 L3 46 North American distribution of V. oxycoccus Linnaeus 1 14 47 Vaccinium vitis-idaea\ habit, flower, and stamen 1 17 48 North American distribution of V. uitis-idaca Linnaeus 118 49 Vaccinium uliginosum\ habit, flower, and stamen 121 50 North American distribution of V. uliginosum Linnaeus 122 51 Juvenile and mature leaves of Vaccinium oualifolium 125 52 Vaccinium myrtiilus, habit, flower, and stamen 131 53 North American distribution of V. myrtiilus Linnaeus 132 54 Vaccinium caespitosum; habit, flower, and stamen 133 55 Distribution of V. caespitosum Michaux 134 56 Vaccinium oualifolium; habit, flower, and stamen 137 57 Distribution of V. oualifolium Small 138 58 Vaccinium membranaceum; habit, flower, and stamen 140 59 Distribution of V. membranaceum Douglas ex Hooker 141 60 Vaccinium deliciosum; habit, flower, and stamen 143 61 Distribution of V. deliciosum Piper 144 62 Vaccinium paruifolium; habit, flower, and stamen 146 63 Distribution of V. paruifolium Small 147 64 Vaccinium scoparium; habit, flower, and stamen 149 65 Distribution of V. scoparium Leiberg ex Coville 150 66 Vaccinium geminiflorum; habit, flower, and stamen 151 67 Distribution of V. geminiflorum HBK 152 68 Vaccinium ouatum; habit, flower, and stamen 155 69 Distribution of V. ouatum Pursh 156 Vlll 1 LIST OF TABLES 1 Cranberry production in North America, 1970-1979 4 2 Commercial highbush blueberry production in North America, 1968-1972 4 3 Continuous characters for North American species of Vaccinium 37 4 Ordered multistate or binary characters 37 5 Unordered multistate or binary characters 39 6 Number of samples scored for the matrix of continuous features 40 7 Comparison of several quantitative differences among North American species of Vaccinium 43 8 Comparison of section names assigned to Vaccinium by various authorities 60 9 Comparison of selected attributes of the nine species in Vaccinium sect. Cyanococcus 61 10 Morphological comparison of selected attributes of the North American Vaccinium erythrocarpum and the Asian Vaccinium japonica 104 1 Distribution of Vaccinium sect. Myrtillus 127 12 Comparison of selected attributes of the eight North American species of Vaccinium sect. Myrtillus 128 LIST OF KEYS 1 Key to sections of Vaccinium in North America 50 2 Vegetative key to the North American species of Vaccinium, by region 51 3 Key to the species of Vaccinium sect. Cyanococcus 59 4 Key to the North American species of Vaccinium sect. Myrtillus 126 5 Alternative key to the North American species of Vaccinium sect. Myrtillus 126 IX FOREWORD One of the duties of the Biosystematics Research Centre of ricillture Canada is the systematic clarification of Canadian crops. The genus Vaccinium provides Canada with its most important indigenous crops, the blueberries and cranberries, as well as other plants of pomological, ornamental, and wildlife interest. Toward the goal of clarifying systematic knowledge of this genus, a contract for the preparation of this monograph was issued to S.P. Vander Kloet, the recognized expert on Vaccinium. As the scientific authority responsible for this contract, I have enjoyed observing the synthesis of this important work. Ernest Small ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The constructive criticism and advice of E. Small, Biosystematics Research Centre, Agriculture Canada, Ottawa, is gratefully acknowledged. For their interest and help, thanks are due to P.F. Stevens, Harvard University; I.V. Hall, Agriculture Canada, Kentville, N.S.; G.J. Galletta, United States Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, Md.; J. Ballington, University of North Carolina; P. Lyrene and W. Sherman, University