Alan Davidson

Blueberry

Appears in
Oxford Companion to Food
Oxford Companion to Food

By Alan Davidson

Published 2014

  • About

blueberry the small bluish fruits of various scrubby (‘low-bush’) and bushy (‘high-bush’) plants of the genus Vaccinium. The most important N. American species are named below. In C. and N. Europe, the corresponding species is V. myrtillus, but this is preferably called bilberry.

Wild blueberries are found wherever suitable conditions (acid soil and enough moisture at all seasons) exist, as far north as the limits of human habitation. Most commercially cultivated blueberries are grown in N. America, especially New Jersey, Michigan, Indiana, N. Carolina, Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia; but cultivation also takes place in parts of W. Europe and has been started in New Zealand.