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Vaccinium
macrocarpon Aiton Standardized Common
Name: Cranberry
Other Common Names: American Cranberry,
Large Cranberry
Family: Ericaceae
Taxonomy: Vaccinium
includes about 450 woody species, found almost worldwide and in a variety of
habitats. Many have edible fruits. Vaccinium macrocarpon is native to
eastern North America; it has been naturalized in Europe, where it is
frequently cultivated. It is classified within Sect. Oxycoccus. Synonyms
include Oxycoccus macrocarpus (Aiton) Pers., V. oblongifolium
(Michx.) Hort. ex Dunal, V. oxycoccus var. oblongifolium Michx.,
and V. propinquum Salisb.
Description: Shrub or vine with
trailing, flexible woody stems, erect shoots to 15 cm high. Leaves evergreen,
subsessile, alternate, elliptical, 7–18 mm long, 3–5 mm broad, thick-textured;
apex and base rounded to obtuse; margins slightly revolute; upper surface shiny
dark green, lower surface pale and glaucous. Inflorescence an intercalary,
bracteate raceme; flowers on slender pedicels 2–3 cm long, subtended by 2
leaflike bracteoles arising on pedicel more than halfway to flower. Calyx fused
into a cup, with 4 tiny lobes; petals 4, white to pink, fused only at base, the
lobes 6–10 mm long, lanceolate, reflexed at flowering; stamens 8, filaments
ciliate, anthers protruding from center of flower in a narrow cone shape,
dehiscing by pores; ovary inferior. Fruit a berry, globose to ovate or
elliptical, red, 9–14(–20) mm in diameter, 4-loculed; mature seeds several to
30 or more, ca. 2 mm long.
Parts
in Commerce:
Fruit
Identification:
- Fleshy berry,
red at maturity
- 9–14(–20) mm in
diameter, broadly ellipsoid to obovate or globose
- Brownish
circular region at apex with small round scar in center where floral parts
were attached and 4 flattened calyx lobes arising at edges; calyx lobes
small, triangular, rounded
- 4-loculed
- Maturing seeds
several to 30, usually over a dozen; small undeveloped seeds may also be
present
- Seeds ca. 2 mm
long, somewhat asymmetrical, with raised netted ornamentation
- Taste sour,
characteristic
Vaccinium
oxycoccus
L.:
“Cranberry” is recognized as referring to the two closely related species V.
macrocarpon and V. oxycoccus. However, in commercial cranberry
production, V. oxycoccus is considered to be an inferior substitute for
the preferred V. macrocarpon. The fruits of V. oxycoccus are
smaller, usually 6–12 mm in diameter, globose to pear-shaped and often
white-speckled, especially before ripening. They usually contain fewer than a
dozen seeds, each ca. 1 mm long.
References:
Fernald ML. Gray’s Manual of Botany, 8th ed. New York: American Book
Company; 1950:1129–1135.
Popova TN. Vaccinium. In: Tutin TG, Heywood VH, Burges NA, et al.,
eds. Flora Europaea. Vol. 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press; 1972:12–13.
Vander Kloet SP. The taxonomy of Vaccinium
Sect. Oxycoccus. Rhodora. 1983;85:1–43.
Vander Kloet SP. The Genus Vaccinium in
North America. Ottawa: Research Branch, Agriculture Canada; 1988.
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