Vaccinium vitis-idaea
Lingonberry | |
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Vaccinium vitis-idaea var. vitis-idaea surrounded by reindeer lichen | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Ericales |
Family: | Ericaceae |
Genus: | Vaccinium |
Species: | V. vitis-idaea
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Binomial name | |
Vaccinium vitis-idaea L. 1753
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Synonyms[3] | |
Synonymy
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Vaccinium vitis-idaea, the lingonberry, partridgeberry,
Names
Vaccinium vitis-idaea is most commonly known in English as 'lingonberry' or 'cowberry'.
The
There are at least 25 other common English names of Vaccinium vitis-idaea worldwide, including:[7]
- bearberry
- beaverberry
- cougarberry
- foxberry
- lowbush cranberry
- mountain bilberry
- mountain cranberry
- partridgeberry[14] (in Newfoundland and Cape Breton Island)
- quailberry
- red whortleberry
- redberry (in Labrador and the Lower North Shore of Quebec)
Description
Vaccinium vitis-idaea spreads by underground stems to form dense clonal colonies. Slender and brittle roots grow from the underground stems. The stems are rounded in cross-section and grow from 10 to 40 cm (4 to 16 in) in height. Leaves grow alternately and are oval, 5–30 mm (1⁄4–1+1⁄8 in) long, with a slightly wavy margin, and sometimes with a notched tip.
The flowers are bell-shaped, white to pale pink, 3–8 mm (1⁄8–3⁄8 in) long, and produced in the early summer. V. vitis-idaea begins to produce flowers from five to ten years of age.[15] They are pollinated by multiple insect species, including Andrena lapponica and several species of bumblebee.[15]
The fruit is a red berry 6–10 mm (1⁄4–3⁄8 in) across, with an acidic taste, ripening in late summer to autumn.[16] While bitter early in the season, they sweeten if left on the branch through winter.[17]
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19th century illustration
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Flowers
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Flowers and young shoots
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Vaccinium vitis-idaea and Empetrum nigrum in Denali National Park
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Ripe lingonberries
Conservation status in the United States
The plant is endangered in Michigan.[18] The minus subspecies is listed as a species of special concern and believed extirpated in Connecticut.[19][20]
Ecology
Vaccinium vitis-idaea keeps its leaves all winter even in the coldest years, unusual for a
Varieties
There are two regional varieties or subspecies of V. vitis-idaea, one in Eurasia and one in North America, differing in leaf size:
- V. vitis-idaea var. vitis-idaea L.—syn. V. vitis-idaea subsp. vitis-idaea.
cowberry. Eurasia. Leaves are 10–30 mm (1⁄2–1+1⁄4 in) long. - V. vitis-idaea var. minus Lodd.—syn. V. vitis-idaea subsp. minus (Lodd.) Hultén.
lingonberry. North America. Leaves are 5–18 mm (1⁄4–3⁄4 in) long.[16]
Cultivation
Lingonberry has been commercially cultivated in the Netherlands and other countries since the 1960s.[6]
Some cultivars are grown for their ornamental rather than culinary value. In the United Kingdom, the Koralle Group has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.[21][22]
Culinary uses
This section needs additional citations for verification. (January 2024) |
The berries collected in the wild are a popular fruit in northern, central and eastern Europe, notably in the Nordic countries, the Baltic states, central and northern Europe. In some areas, they can be picked legally on both public and private lands in accordance with the freedom to roam.[23]
The berries are quite tart, so they are often cooked and sweetened before eating in the form of lingonberry jam, compote, juice, smoothie or syrup. The raw fruits are also frequently simply mashed with sugar, which preserves most of their nutrients and taste. This mix can be stored at room temperature in closed but not necessarily sealed containers, but in this condition, they are best preserved frozen. Fruit served this way or as compote often accompanies game and liver dishes.
In
This traditional Russian soft drink, known as "
The berries are also popular as a wild picked fruit in Eastern Canada, for example in Newfoundland and Labrador and Cape Breton, where they are locally known as partridgeberries or redberries, and on the mainland of Nova Scotia, where they are known as foxberries. In this region they are incorporated into jams, syrups, and baked goods, such as pies, scones, and muffins.
In Sweden lingonberries are often sold as jam and juice, and as a key ingredient in dishes. They are used to make Lillehammer berry liqueur; and, in East European countries, lingonberry vodka is sold, and vodka with lingonberry juice or mors is a cocktail.
The berries are an important food for bears and foxes, and many fruit-eating birds. Caterpillars of the case-bearer moths Coleophora glitzella, Coleophora idaeella and Coleophora vitisella are obligate feeders on V. vitis-idaea leaves.
In Indigenous North American cuisine
The Upper Tanana boil the berries with sugar and flour to thicken; eat the raw berries, either plain or mixed with sugar, grease or a combination of the two; fry them in grease with sugar or dried fish eggs; or make them into pies, jam, and jelly. They also preserve the berries alone or in grease and store them in a birchbark basket in an underground cache, or freeze them.[29]
Use of the minus subspecies
The
Nutrition
Raw lingonberries are 86% water, 13%
Traditional medicine
In
Other uses
The Nihithawak
Related species
Vaccinium vitis-idaea differs from the related cranberries in having white flowers with petals partially enclosing the stamens and stigma, rather than pink flowers with petals reflexed backwards, and rounder, less pear-shaped berries.
Explanatory notes
- ^ This name usually refers to Mitchella repens.
References
- . Retrieved 24 October 2022.
- ^ "Vaccinium vitis-idaea. NatureServe Explorer 2.0". explorer.natureserve.org.
- ^ Vaccinium vitis-idaea L. The Plant List, www.theplantlist.org
- ^ Åkerström, Lola Akinmade. "10 things to know about Sweden's food culture". 10 July 2012. Sweden.se. Archived from the original on 2012-07-12. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
- ^ "Economic Evaluation of Lingonberry Production in Oregon" "Oregon State University Extension Service" Dec 2003 [1]
- ^ a b Rozāne, Keita (24 May 2021). "Plant wonders: Healthy lingonberries can be grown in the garden, too". eng.lsm.lv. Public Broadcasting of Latvia. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
- ^ a b Elden J. Stang; Gavin G. Weis & John Klueh (1990). "Lingonberry: Potential New Fruit for the Northern United States". In J. Janick & J.E. Simon (eds.). Advances in new crops. Timber Press. pp. 321–323.
- ^ Gray's Manual of Botany: Asa Gray
- ^ USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Vaccinium vitis-idaea". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team.
- ISBN 978-0-19-866189-4. p. 515.
- ISBN 978-0-600-58187-1. p. 187.
- ^ "idaein". Merriam-Webster.
- ^ "Raspberries". Botanical-online. 19 January 2019.
- ISBN 0-674-00884-7. Retrieved 2007-11-16.
- ^ JSTOR 2257030.
- ^ a b Flora of North America: Vaccinium vitis-idaea
- ISBN 0-394-50432-1.
- ^ "Plants Profile for Vaccinium vitis-idaea (ligonberry)". plants.usda.gov. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
- ^ "Connecticut's Endangered, Threatened and Special Concern Species 2015". State of Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Bureau of Natural Resources. Retrieved 7 January 2017. (Note: This list is newer than the one used by plants.usda.gov and is more up-to-date.)
- ^ "NatureServe Explorer 2.0". explorer.natureserve.org. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
- ^ "RHS Plant Selector Vaccinium vitis-idaea Koralle Group AGM / RHS Gardening". Apps.rhs.org.uk. Retrieved 2021-03-16.
- ^ "AGM Plants - Ornamental" (PDF). Royal Horticultural Society. July 2017. p. 106. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
- ^ "Picking flowers, berries, mushrooms, etc". The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency. Naturvårdsverket. Archived from the original on 2016-03-13. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
- ^ Heller, Christine A., 1953, Edible and Poisonous Plants of Alaska, University of Alaska, page 109
- ^ Carrier Linguistic Committee, 1973, Plants of Carrier Country, Fort St. James, BC. Carrier Linguistic Committee, page 76
- ^ Nelson, Richard K., 1983, Make Prayers to the Raven—A Koyukon View of the Northern Forest, Chicago. The University of Chicago Press, page 55
- ^ Porsild, A.E., 1953, Edible Plants of the Arctic, Arctic 6:15-34, page 22 Note: The source simply lists "Eskimo" rather than a specific group.
- ^ Jones, Anore, 1983, Nauriat Niginaqtuat = Plants That We Eat, Kotzebue, Alaska. Maniilaq Association Traditional Nutrition Program, page 86
- ^ a b Kari, Priscilla Russe, 1985, Upper Tanana Ethnobotany, Anchorage. Alaska Historical Commission, page 9
- ^ Rousseau, Jacques, 1946, Notes Sur L'ethnobotanique D'anticosti, Archives de Folklore 1:60-71, page 68
- ^ a b Leighton, Anna L., 1985, Wild Plant Use by the Woods Cree (Nihithawak) of East-Central Saskatchewan, Ottawa. National Museums of Canada. Mercury Series, page 64
- ^ Ager, Thomas A. and Lynn Price Ager, 1980, Ethnobotany of The Eskimos of Nelson Island, Alaska, Arctic Anthropology 27:26-48, page 37
- ^ Anderson, J. P., 1939, Plants Used by the Eskimo of the Northern Bering Sea and Arctic Regions of Alaska, American Journal of Botany 26:714-16, page 715
- ^ a b Wilson, Michael R., 1978, Notes on Ethnobotany in Inuktitut, The Western Canadian Journal of Anthropology 8:180-196, page 183
- ^ Compton, Brian Douglas, 1993, Upper North Wakashan and Southern Tsimshian Ethnobotany: The Knowledge and Usage of Plants..., Ph.D. Dissertation, University of British Columbia, page 101
- ^ a b "Lingonberry, raw - Nutrition Information and Facts". Department of Nutrition, National Food Institute - Technical University of Denmark. 2009-01-13. Retrieved 2015-09-17.
- ^ James A. Duke. "Vaccinium vitis-idaea (Ericaceae)". Dr. Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases. Archived from the original on January 20, 2009. Retrieved May 22, 2011.
External links
- Media related to Vaccinium vitis-idaea at Wikimedia Commons