Vaccinium floribundum

Vaccinium floribundum
Conservation status
	; Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Ericales
Family:	Ericaceae
Genus:	Vaccinium
Species:	V. floribundum
Binomial name
	Vaccinium floribundum; Kunth 1819
Synonyms
	Synonymy Epigynium floribundum Klotzsch ; Metagonia marginata (Dunal) Nutt. ; Vaccinium crenulatum Dunal ; Vaccinium dasygynum S.F. Blake ; Vaccinium leiandrum S.F.Blake ; Vaccinium marginatum Dunal ; Vaccinium moritzianum Klotzsch ; Vaccinium mortinia Benth. ; Vaccinium polystachyum Benth. ; Vaccinium ramosissimum Dunal ; Vaccinium tatei Rusby ; Vaccinium thymifolium Klotzsch ;

Vaccinium floribundum, commonly known as mortiño or Andean blueberry, is a slender shrub that grows in the northern Andes in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela at elevations from 1,800 to 3,800 metres (5,900 to 12,500 ft). It can reach 2–3 m (6 ft 7 in – 9 ft 10 in) high or it can be dwarf and prostrate. The plant produces an edible fruit, a round berry that is bluish black and glaucous, that is collected and eaten raw and used in preserves. It is sold at some markets and is used for Colada Morada celebrating the Day of the Dead.^[2]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

Photo of herbarium specimen at Missouri Botanical Garden, collected in Peru in 2012

Media related to Vaccinium floribundum at Wikimedia Commons

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[1] The Plant List, Vaccinium floribundum Kunth

[2] "Berries." Lost Crops of the Incas: Little-Known Plants of the Andes with Promise for Worldwide Cultivation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 1989.

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