VACCINIUM

genus of about 150 species of shrubs, in the heath family (Ericaceae), found widely throughout the Northern Hemisphere and extending south along tropical mountain ranges. The shrubs are erect or creeping, with alternate, deciduous or evergreen leaves. The small flowers resemble those of the true heaths (Erica), but the ovary is beneath the flower. The flowers are clustered in the leaf axil (the upper angle between the leaf stem and the main stem) or are solitary. The berries are usually edible. More than 40 species of Vaccinium shrubs occur in North America, especially in the northern and mountainous parts. The highbush blueberry (V. corymbosum) and other species of blueberries are found in the eastern United States and adjacent Canada. The cowberry (V. vitis-idaea), also known as red whortleberry, or mountain cranberry, grows in northern Canada. Several species occur in the Rocky Mountains region. More than 10 species are found in the Pacific states, including the western blueberry (V. occidentale), the red bilberry (V. parvifolium), and the California blueberry (V. ovatum). Four species occur in Great Britain: the bilberry (V. myrtillus), also called blaeberry, or whortleberry; the bog bilberry (V. uliginosum); the small-fruited cranberry (V. oxycoccus); and the cowberry. All are widely distributed throughout Europe, Asia, and North America. See also bilberry; blueberry; cranberry.