Menu list goes here

Herbal Database Search Results

Back to: Pathways Main Search Page For Metaphysical uses visit The Witchs Haven

Vaccinium angustifolium

Common name:	Low Sweet Blueberry	Family:	Ericaceae
Author:	Aiton.	Botanical references:	11, 43, 200
Synonyms:	Vaccinium pensylvanicum (Lam. non Mill.), Vaccinium pennsylvanicum angustifolium ((Aiton.)A.Gray.), Vaccinium lamarckii (Camp.)
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	North-eastern N. America - Newfoundland to Maryland, west to Iowa and Minnesota.
Habitat:	Dry open barrens, peats and rocks[43].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	3	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	1

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	V. angustifolium var. hypolasium[B,G,P] V. angustifolium var. laevifolium[B,G,P] V. angustifolium var. nigrum[B,G,P] V. brittonii[B,G,P] V. nigrum[B,P] V. pennsylvanicum[L] V. pennsylvaticum var. angustifolium[L] V. pensylvanicum var. nigrum[G]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	American Blueberry [H], Blueberry [H], Early Sweet Blueberry [L], Late Lowbush Blueberry [B], Low Sweet Blueberry [FEIS,L], Lowbush Blueberry [P,H],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	angustifolium = narrow leaved;
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Ericales. Heath family

Physical Characteristics

A decidious shrub growing to 0.2m. It is hardy to zone 2. It is in flower from May to June, and the seeds ripen in July. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects. We rate it 3/5 for edibility and 1/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid soils and can grow in very acid soil. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires dry or moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Woodland, Cultivated Beds, Sunny Edge.

Cultivar 'Pütte': Woodland, Sunny Edge, Dappled Shade.

Edible Uses

Fruit; Tea.

Fruit - raw, cooked or used in preserves etc[2, 161, 177, 183]. A very sweet pleasant flavour with a slight taste of honey[11, 43, 183]. Largely grown for the canning industry, it is considered to be the best of the lowbush type blueberries[183]. The fruit can be dried and used like raisins[62]. The fruit is about 12mm in diameter[200]. This is the earliest commercially grown blueberry to ripen[235].
A tea is made from the leaves and dried fruits[101].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Blood tonic; Oxytoxic.

A tea made from the leaves has been used as a blood purifier and in the treatment of infant's colic[222, 257]. It has also been used to induce labour and as a tonic after a miscarriage[222, 257].

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

Requires a moist but freely-draining lime free soil, preferring one that is rich in peat or a light loamy soil with added leaf-mould[11, 200]. Prefers a very acid soil with a pH in the range of 4.5 to 6, plants soon become chlorotic when lime is present. Succeeds in full sun or light shade though it fruits better in a sunny position[200]. Requires shelter from strong winds[200].
A very hardy plant, tolerating temperatures down to about -40°c[200].
Dislikes root disturbance, plants are best grown in pots until being planted out in their permanent positions[200].
Cultivated for its edible fruits, there are some named varieties[1, 183]. It succeeds in cold northerly locations such as Maine in N. America[183] and in C. Sweden. However, it is said to have little or no value as a fruit crop in Britain[11].
The typical species is not as well known as its subspecies V. angustifolium laevifolium. House[11].
Plants in this genus are notably resistant to honey fungus[200].

Propagation

Seed - sow late winter in a greenhouse in a lime-free potting mix and only just cover the seed[78]. Stored seed might require a period of up to 3 months cold stratification[113]. Another report says that it is best to sow the seed in a greenhouse as soon as it is ripe[200]. Once they are about 5cm tall, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in a lightly shaded position in the greenhouse for at least their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts.
Cuttings of half-ripe wood, 5 - 8cm with a heel, August in a frame[78]. Slow and difficult.
Layering in late summer or early autumn[78]. Another report says that spring is the best time to layer[200]. Takes 18 months[78].
Division of suckers in spring or early autumn[113].

Cultivars

'Pütte': Developed in Sweden, this cultivar matures at 20 - 40cm tall, yielding large berries in dense clusters[183]. Dormant plants have withstood temperatures down to -40°c[183].

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

PFAF Web Pages

This plant is mentioned in the following web pages

Web References

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[FEIS] Data (Uses, Ecology, Fire Effects) from the USDA Forestry Service Fire Effects Information System.

References for Vaccinium pennsylvanicum (a possible synonym).

References for Vaccinium pennsylvaticum var. angustifolium (a possible synonym).

References for the family Ericaceae.

[CHINA] Draft Data for parts of family Very detailed botanical/identification info. from the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[11] Bean. W. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. Murray 1981
A classic with a wealth of information on the plants, but poor on pictures.

[43] Fernald. M. L. Gray's Manual of Botany. American Book Co. 1950
A bit dated but good and concise flora of the eastern part of N. America.

[62] Elias. T. and Dykeman. P. A Field Guide to N. American Edible Wild Plants. Van Nostrand Reinhold 1982 ISBN 0442222009
Very readable.

[78] Sheat. W. G. Propagation of Trees, Shrubs and Conifers. MacMillan and Co 1948
A bit dated but a good book on propagation techniques with specific details for a wide range of plants.

[101] Turner. N. J. and Szczawinski. A. Edible Wild Fruits and Nuts of Canada. National Museum of Natural Sciences 1978
A very readable guide to some wild foods of Canada.

[113] Dirr. M. A. and Heuser. M. W. The Reference Manual of Woody Plant Propagation. Athens Ga. Varsity Press 1987 ISBN 0942375009
A very detailed book on propagating trees. Not for the casual reader.

[161] Yanovsky. E. Food Plants of the N. American Indians. Publication no. 237. U.S. Depf of Agriculture.
A comprehensive but very terse guide. Not for the casual reader.

[177] Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984 ISBN 3874292169
An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of latin names with a brief list of edible parts.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[222] Foster. S. & Duke. J. A. A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants. Eastern and Central N. America. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1990 ISBN 0395467225
A concise book dealing with almost 500 species. A line drawing of each plant is included plus colour photographs of about 100 species. Very good as a field guide, it only gives brief details about the plants medicinal properties.

[235] Britton. N. L. Brown. A. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada Dover Publications. New York. 1970 ISBN 0-486-22642-5
Reprint of a 1913 Flora, but still a very useful book.

[257] Moerman. D. Native American Ethnobotany Timber Press. Oregon. 1998 ISBN 0-88192-453-9
Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.

Readers Comments

Main Search Page

Bibliography

Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
Blagdon Cross, Ashwater, Beaworthy, Devon, EX21 5DF, UK.
Website: www.pfaf.org Phone: 0845 458 4719/_44(0) 1208 872963

This page (UK) http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Vaccinium+angustifolium
This page (US) http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Vaccinium+angustifolium

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
(You can copy, distribute, display this works but: Attribution is required, its for Non-Commercial purposes, and it's Share Alike (GNUish/copyleft) i.e. has an identical license.)
We also ask that you let us know (michael@thewitchshaven.com) if you link to, redistribute, make a derived work or do anything groovy with this information.

Home :: View Cart :: Shipping & Returns :: Contact Us :: Log In :: Privacy Policy :: Home :: Philosophy

We make no claims of magical effects or supernatural powers for any item in this catalog. In spite of legendary attributes or occult and craft tradition, such items are offered as curios only and beliefs concerning their magical effectiveness are related only for historical interest.