Blueberries

Blueberries are flowering plants of the genus Vaccinium with dark blue, purple or black berries. Species in the section Cyanococcus are the most common fruits sold as "blueberries" and are mainly native to North America. They are usually erect but sometimes prostrate shrubs varying in sise from 10cm tall to 4m tall. The flowers are bell-shaped, white, pale pink or red, sometimes tinged greenish. In commercial blueberry production, smaller species are known as "lowbush blueberries" (synonymous with "wild"), and the larger species as "highbush blueberries". The leaves can be either deciduous or evergreen, ovate-lanceolate, and from 1 to 8cm long and 0.5 to 3.5cm broad. The fruit is a false berry 5 to 16mm diameter with a flared crown at the end; they are pale greenish at first, then reddish-purple, and finally blue on ripening. They have a sweet taste when mature, with variable acidity. Blueberry bushes typically bear fruit from May to June though fruiting times are affected by local conditions such as altitude and latitude.