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Vaccinium vitis-idaea

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Lingonberry
Vaccinium vitis-idaea var. vitis-idaea in reindeer lichen

Secure  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Ericales
Family: Ericaceae
Genus: Vaccinium
Species:
V. vitis-idaea
Binomial name
Vaccinium vitis-idaea
L. 1753
Synonyms[2]
Synonymy
  • Myrtillus exigua Bubani
  • Rhodococcum vitis-idaea Avrorin
  • Vaccinium jesoense Miq.
  • Vitis-idaea punctata Moench
  • Vitis-idaea punctifolia Gray
  • Rhodococcum minus (Lodd., G.Lodd. & W.Lodd.) Avrorin
  • Vaccinium vitis-idaea var. minus Lodd., G.Lodd. & W.Lodd.
  • Vitis-idaea punctata var. minor (Lodd., G.Lodd. & W.Lodd.) Moldenke

Vaccinium vitis-idaea, the lingonberry, partridgeberry, mountain cranberry or cowberry, is a small evergreen shrub in the heath family Ericaceae, that bears edible fruit. It is native to boreal forest and Arctic tundra throughout the Northern Hemisphere, from Europe and Asia to North America. Lingonberries are picked in the wild and used to accompany a variety of dishes in Northern Baltoscandia,[3] Russia, Canada and Alaska. Commercial cultivation is undertaken in the U.S. Pacific Northwest[4] and in many other regions of the world.[5]

Names

Vaccinium vitis-idaea is most commonly known in English as 'lingonberry' or 'cowberry'.[6][7][8][9] The name 'lingonberry' originates from the Swedish name lingon for the species, and is derived from the Norse lyngr, or heather.

The genus name Vaccinium is a classical Latin name for a plant, possibly the bilberry or hyacinth, and may be derived from the Latin bacca, 'berry'.[10][11] The specific name is derived from Latin vitis ('vine') and idaea, the feminine form of idaeus (literally 'from Mount Ida', used in reference to raspberries Rubus idaeus).[12][13]

There are at least 25 other common English names of Vaccinium vitis-idaea worldwide, including:[6]

  • foxberry
  • quailberry
  • bearberry
  • beaverberry
  • mountain cranberry
  • red whortleberry

Description

Flowers and young shoots

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.

Flowers

The flowers are bell-shaped, white to pale pink, 3–8 mm (1⁄8–3⁄8 in) long, and produced in the early summer.

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.[8][15] While bitter early in the season, they sweeten if left on the branch through winter.[16]

Conservation status in the United States

The plant is endangered in Michigan.[17] The minus subspecies is listed as a species of special concern and believed extirpated in Connecticut.[18]

Ecology

Vaccinium vitis-idaea keeps its leaves all winter even in the coldest years, unusual for a broad-leaved plant, though in its natural habitat it is usually protected from severe cold by snow cover. It is extremely hardy, tolerating temperatures as low as −40 °C (−40 °F) or lower, but grows poorly where summers are hot. It prefers some shade (as from a forest canopy) and constantly moist, acidic soil. Nutrient-poor soils are tolerated but not alkaline soils.

Varieties

Vaccinium vitis-idaea var. minus

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 10–30 mm (1⁄2–1+1⁄4 in) long.[8]
  • V. vitis-idaea var. minus Lodd. — syn. V. vitis-idaea subsp. minus (Lodd.) Hultén.
    Lingonberry. North America. Leaves 5–18 mm (1⁄4–3⁄4 in) long.[15]

Cultivation

Lingonberry has been commercially cultivated in the Netherlands and other countries since the 1960s.[19] Empress Elizabeth ordered lingonberry to be planted all over Peterhof in 1745.[20]

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

Lingonberry jam on toast
Lingonberry jam with mustamakkara, a traditional food in Tampere, Finland

The berries collected in the wild are a popular fruit in northern, central and eastern Europe, notably in 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 Sweden, Finland and Norway, reindeer and elk steaks are traditionally served with gravy and lingonberry sauce. Preserved fruit is commonly eaten with meatballs, as well as potato pancakes. A traditional Swedish dessert is lingonpäron (literally 'lingonberry pears'), consisting of fresh pears which are peeled, boiled and preserved in lingondricka (lingonberry juice) and is commonly eaten during Christmas. This was very common in old times, because it was an easy and tasty way to preserve pears. In Sweden and Russia, when sugar was still a luxury item, the berries were usually preserved simply by putting them whole into bottles of water. This was known as vattlingon (watered lingonberries); the procedure preserved them until next season. This was also a home remedy against scurvy.

This traditional Russian soft drink, known as "lingonberry water", is mentioned by Alexander Pushkin in Eugene Onegin. In Russian folk medicine, lingonberry water was used as a mild laxative. A traditional Finnish dish is sautéed reindeer (poronkäristys) with mashed potatoes and lingonberries on the side, either raw, thawed or as a jam. In Finland, whipped semolina pudding flavored with lingonberry (puolukkapuuro) is also popular. In Poland, the berries are often mixed with pears to create a sauce served with poultry or game. The berries can also be used to replace redcurrants when creating Cumberland sauce.

19th century illustration

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 popular 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

Alaska natives mix the berries with rose hip pulp and sugar to make jam, cook the berries as a sauce, and store the berries for future use.[24] The Dakelh use the berries to make jam.[25] The Koyukon freeze the berries for winter use.[26] Inuit dilute and sweeten the juice to make a beverage, freeze and store the berries for spring, and use the berries to make jams and jellies.[27] The Iñupiat use the berries to make two different desserts, one where the berries are whipped with frozen fish eggs and eaten, and they mash raw berries with canned milk and seal oil. They also make a dish of the berries which is cooked with fish eggs, fish (whitefish, sheefish or pike) and blubber.[28]

The Upper Tanana boil the berries with sugar and flour to thicken; eat the raw berries, either plain or mixing them with sugar, grease or the combination of the two; fry them in grease with sugar or dried fish eggs; and 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 Anticosti people use the fruit to make jams and jellies.[30] The Nihithawak Cree store the berries by freezing them outside during the winter, mix the berries with boiled fish eggs, livers, air bladders and fat and eat them, eat the berries raw as a snack food, and stew them with fish or meat.[31] The Iñupiat of Nelson Island eat the berries,[32] as do the Iñupiat of the Northern Bering Sea and Arctic regions of Alaska,[33] as well as the Inuvialuit.[34] The Haida people, Hesquiaht First Nation, Wuikinuxv and Tsimshian all use the berries as food.[35]

Nutrition

Ripe lingonberries

Raw lingonberries are 86% water, 13% carbohydrates, 1% protein, and contain negligible fat.[36] In a 100 gram (3.5 oz) reference amount, lingonberries supply 228 calories, and are low-to-moderate sources of vitamin C, B vitamins, and dietary minerals.[36]

Traditional medicine

In traditional medicine, V. vitis-idaea was used as an apéritif and astringent.[37] The Upper Tanana ate the berries or used their juice to treat minor respiratory disorders.[29]

Other uses

The Nihithawak Cree use the berries of the minus subspecies to color porcupine quills, and put the firm, ripe berries on a string to wear as a necklace.[31] The Western Canadian Inuit use the minus subspecies as a tobacco additive or substitute.[34]

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.

Hybrids between Vaccinium vitis-idaea and Vaccinium myrtillus, named Vaccinium × intermedium Ruthe, are occasionally found in Europe.[8]

References

  1. ^ Maiz-Tome, L. (2016). "Vaccinium vitis-idaea". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T18748884A78457217. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T18748884A78457217.en. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  2. ^ Vaccinium vitis-idaea L. The Plant List, www.theplantlist.org
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ "Economic Evaluation of Lingonberry Production in Oregon" "Oregon State University Extension Service" Dec 2003 [1]
  5. ^ Морозов, Олег (5 September 2017). Культура брусники обыкновенной (Vaccinium vitis-idaea L.): проблемы и перспективы. Litres. ISBN 9785457626317. Retrieved 1 April 2018 – via Google Books.
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ Gray's Manual of Botany: Asa Gray
  8. ^ a b c d Interactive Flora of Northwest Europe: Vaccinium vitis-idaea[permanent dead link]
  9. ^ USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "​Vaccinium vitis-idaea​". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team.
  10. ^ Hyam, R. & Pankhurst, R.J. (1995). Plants and their names : a concise dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-866189-4. p. 515.
  11. ^ Coombes, Allen J. (1994). Dictionary of Plant Names. London: Hamlyn Books. ISBN 978-0-600-58187-1. p. 187.
  12. ^ "idaein". Merriam-Webster.
  13. ^ "Raspberries". Botanical-online. 19 January 2019.
  14. ^ Hall, Joan Houston (2002). Dictionary of American Regional English. Harvard University Press. p. 47. ISBN 0-674-00884-7. Retrieved 2007-11-16.
  15. ^ a b Flora of North America: Vaccinium vitis-idaea
  16. ^ Niering, William A.; Olmstead, Nancy C. (1985) [1979]. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers, Eastern Region. Knopf. p. 510. ISBN 0-394-50432-1.
  17. ^ "Plants Profile for Vaccinium vitis-idaea (ligonberry)". plants.usda.gov. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  18. ^ "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.)
  19. ^ 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.
  20. ^ "Санкт-Петербургские Ведомости - Рынок - Моченый шедевр". spbvedomosti.ru. Archived from the original on 2014-09-06.
  21. ^ "RHS Plant Selector Vaccinium vitis-idaea Koralle Group AGM / RHS Gardening". Apps.rhs.org.uk. Retrieved 2021-03-16.
  22. ^ "AGM Plants - Ornamental" (PDF). Royal Horticultural Society. July 2017. p. 106. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  23. ^ "Picking flowers, berries, mushrooms, etc". The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency. Naturvårdsverket. Archived from the original on 2016-03-13. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
  24. ^ Heller, Christine A., 1953, Edible and Poisonous Plants of Alaska, University of Alaska, page 109
  25. ^ Carrier Linguistic Committee, 1973, Plants of Carrier Country, Fort St. James, BC. Carrier Linguistic Committee, page 76
  26. ^ Nelson, Richard K., 1983, Make Prayers to the Raven--A Koyukon View of the Northern Forest, Chicago. The University of Chicago Press, page 55
  27. ^ 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.
  28. ^ Jones, Anore, 1983, Nauriat Niginaqtuat = Plants That We Eat, Kotzebue, Alaska. Maniilaq Association Traditional Nutrition Program, page 86
  29. ^ a b Kari, Priscilla Russe, 1985, Upper Tanana Ethnobotany, Anchorage. Alaska Historical Commission, page 9
  30. ^ Rousseau, Jacques, 1946, Notes Sur L'ethnobotanique D'anticosti, Archives de Folklore 1:60-71, page 68
  31. ^ 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
  32. ^ Ager, Thomas A. and Lynn Price Ager, 1980, Ethnobotany of The Eskimos of Nelson Island, Alaska, Arctic Anthropology 27:26-48, page 37
  33. ^ 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
  34. ^ a b Wilson, Michael R., 1978, Notes on Ethnobotany in Inuktitut, The Western Canadian Journal of Anthropology 8:180-196, page 183
  35. ^ 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
  36. ^ 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.
  37. ^ 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.
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