Vaccinium corymbosum seed

LATIN NAME: Vaccinium corymbosum

COMMON NAME: Highbush Blueberry

Highbush blueberry is the hardy, bushy, fruit-bearing shrub of the cool, moist ground of the north, and it has been bred into the fine, large-fruited blueberries of the market. The dense, branching bush carries the small, glossy, pointed leaves, which turn a fine, glowing red in the autumn, and the clusters of the small, white, bell-shaped flowers open in the late spring. The plump, blue-black, sweet berries follow, ripening through the summer. It is a fine, generous shrub for the cool, moist, acid ground.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The highbush blueberry has a strong and well-documented place in the plant science, and it has been studied for a very long time as one of the great berry crops of the north. The breeding of the large, fine-fruited varieties from the wild, acid-loving shrubs has been studied closely, and the plant keeps showing up in the work on the berry crops and the horticultural breeding. The deep colour of the berries and the compounds they carry have also drawn a line of the food-science research, and the plant is a regular subject of the studies of the acid-soil fruit crops. The science here is deep, careful and of the greatest practical value.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

The highbush blueberry is one of the great berry crops of the world, and the plump, sweet berries are eaten fresh, baked into the muffins and the pies, or frozen for the year. The bush is a fine, generous fruit shrub for the cool, moist, acid garden, and the white, bell-shaped flowers are a fine early food for the bees. The glowing autumn colour gives a second show, and the shrub is a regular of the home orchard and the berry patch. It has been written up in the horticultural and the food papers for its fine fruit and its easy, hardy ways.

The highbush blueberry comes from the cool, moist, acid ground of the north of the continent, and the wild shrubs have been gathered for their berries by the people of the region for a very long time. The modern, large-fruited varieties come from a long programme of the breeding that began with those wild, acid-loving shrubs, and the plump, blue-black berries are now one of the great berry crops of the world. The white, bell-shaped flowers are a fine early food for the bees, and the autumn brings a glowing change of the leaf colour. It is a fine, generous fruit shrub for the cool, moist, acid garden.

To grow the highbush blueberry from seed, pack the tiny seeds with a little moist sphagnum moss in a sealed bag and hold them cold for about a month to wake them, then sow them on the surface of pots of moist, acid, free-draining soil and press them in without covering them, since they like the light. Keep the pots in a bright, cool, open spot and water gently. The seedlings come up in their own good time and grow on slowly, so be patient with them, and give them the cool, moist, acid ground they prefer.

The most widely grown blueberries are cultivars of northern high bush blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum), branching mainly deciduous shrubs reaching up to 1.8m (6ft) in height. Apart from producing fruit they are ornamental, producing bell-like flowers in spring. The foliage has good autumn colour. Half-high blueberries are hybrids between Vaccinium corymbosum and low-bush Vaccinium angustifolium, making more compact plants.