Vaccinium oxycoccos
{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = VacciniumOxycoccos.jpg
| image_caption = Fruit on a bed of Sphagnum rubellum
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status2 = G5
| status2_system = TNC
| genus = Vaccinium
| parent = Vaccinium subg. Oxycoccus
| species = oxycoccos
| authority = L. 1753
| synonyms_ref = {{ThePlantList}}{{eFloras|2|242444179|Vaccinium oxycoccus |family=Ericaceae |last1=Fang |first1=Ruizheng |first2=Peter F. |last2=Steven}}
| synonyms = {{collapsible list|bullets=true
|title=Synonymy
|Vaccinium oxycoccus Linnaeus
|Oxycoca vulgaris Raf.
|Oxycoccus oxycoccos (L.) MacMill.
|Oxycoccus palustris Pers.
|Oxycoccus quadripetalus Schinz & Thell.
|Oxycoccus quadripetalus Gilib.
|Oxycoccus vulgaris Hill
|Schollera europaea Steud.
|Schollera oxycoccos (L.) Roth
|Schollera paludosa Baumg.
|Schollera palustris Steud.
}}
}}
Vaccinium oxycoccos is a species of cranberry in the heath family. It is known as small cranberry, marshberry, bog cranberry, swamp cranberry,{{FEIS|last=Matthews|first=Robin F.|date=1992|type=shrub|genus=Vaccinium|species=oxycoccos}} or (particularly in Britain) just cranberry. It occurs broadly across cooler climates in the temperate Northern Hemisphere.
Description
This cranberry is a small, prostrate shrub with vine-like stems that root at the nodes. The evergreen leaves are leathery and lance-shaped, up to {{convert|1.2|cm|abbr=on|frac=8}} long.{{Cite book |last1=Turner |first1=Mark |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VLbAAwAAQBAJ |title=Trees & Shrubs of the Pacific Northwest |last2=Kuhlmann |first2=Ellen |date=2014 |publisher=Timber Press |isbn=978-1-60469-263-1 |edition=1st |location=Portland, OR |pages=182}} The stems are a few centimeters tall, upon which are one to a few nodding flowers with four-petals. The corolla is white or pink and flexed backward away from the center of the flower. The fruit is a pink or red berry which has spots when young. It measures up to {{convert|1.2|cm|in|abbr=on|frac=4}} wide.{{eFloras|1|200016697|Vaccinium oxycoccos |family=Ericaceae |first=Sam P. |last=Vander Kloet}} The plant forms mycorrhizal associations. It mainly reproduces vegetatively.
Distribution and habitat
Vaccinium oxycoccos is a widespread and common species occurring broadly across cooler climates in the temperate Northern Hemisphere,{{cite web |url=https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.153122/Vaccinium_oxycoccos |title=Vaccinium oxycoccos |website=NatureServe}}{{BONAP|ref|genus=Vaccinium |species=oxycoccos}}{{cite web |url=http://www.tela-botanica.org/bdtfx-nn-70493-synthese |website=Tela Botanica |title=Vaccinium oxycoccos L. |language=fr}} Photos, description, French distribution map.{{cite web |website=Schede di botanica |language=it |url=http://luirig.altervista.org/flora/taxa/index1.php?scientific-name=vaccinium+oxycoccos |title=Vaccinium oxycoccos L.}} Photos and European distribution map. including northern Europe, northern Asia and northern North America.
It is an indicator of moist to wet soils which are low in nitrogen and have a high water table. It is an indicator of coniferous swamps. It grows in bogs and fens in moist forest habitat. It grows on peat which may be saturated most of the time. The soil in bogs is acidic and low in nutrients. The plant's mycorrhizae help it obtain nutrients in this situation. Fens have somewhat less acidic soil, which is also higher in nutrients. The plant can often be found growing on hummocks of Sphagnum mosses.
Ecology
In North America, other species found in this forest understory habitat include leatherleaf (Chamaedaphne calyculata), bog rosemary (Andromeda glaucophylla), bog laurel (Kalmia polifolia), pitcher plant (Sarracenia purpurea), Labrador tea (Rhododendron groenlandicum), cloudberry (Rubus chamaemorus), rhodora (Rhododendron canadense), glossy buckthorn (Rhamnus frangula), sundew (Drosera spp.), cottonsedge (Eriophorum virginatum and E. angustifolium), and species of sedge and lichen. The plant easily colonizes bog habitat that has recently burned. It survives fire with its underground rhizomes.
Uses
The berries are edible{{Cite book|last=Benoliel|first=Doug|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/668195076|title=Northwest Foraging: The Classic Guide to Edible Plants of the Pacific Northwest|publisher=Skipstone|year=2011|isbn=978-1-59485-366-1|edition=Rev. and updated|location=Seattle, WA|pages=47–48|oclc=668195076}} and have been used both as a medicine and as a food by various Native American communities. Some Iñupiat cook the cranberry with fish eggs and blubber.{{cite journal |last=Jones|first=Anore |year=1983 |title=Nauriat niginaqtuat (Plants that we eat) |location=Kotzebue, Alaska |journal=Maniilaq Association Traditional Nutrition Program|page=104}} According to the brief annotation in {{harvtxt|Anonymous|2003}}.{{cite web |url=http://naeb.brit.org/uses/species/4084/ |title=Vaccinium oxycoccos L. |work= Native American Ethnobotany |publisher= University of Michigan-Dearborn |location=Dearborn, MI |year=2003 |access-date=24 May 2023 |last=Anonymous }}
References
External links
{{portal|Plants}}
- [http://biology.burke.washington.edu/herbarium/imagecollection.php?Genus=Vaccinium&Species=oxycoccos Washington Burke Museum, University of Washington]
- [http://www.tropicos.org/Image/73876 illustration from Flora of China Illustrations vol. 14, fig. 688, 2-5 ]
- {{PFAF}}
- {{Go Botany |genus=Vaccinium |species=oxycoccos |link=1}}
- [http://www.luontoportti.com/suomi/en/kukkakasvit/cranberry Luontoportti, NatureGate, Isokarpalo (Vaccinium oxycoccos)] description, photos, ecological and culinary information, link to distribution map for Finland
- {{NPIN|VAOX|link=1}}
- [http://ontariowildflowers.com/main/species.php?id=2033 Ontario Wildflowers]
{{Taxonbar|from=Q374399}}
Category:Flora of Northern Europe
Category:Flora of temperate Asia
Category:Flora of Subarctic America
Category:Flora of the Northeastern United States
Category:Flora of the Northwestern United States
Category:Flora of the Appalachian Mountains
Category:Flora of the Great Lakes region (North America)
Category:Plants described in 1753