Editing Vaccinium (section)

==Taxonomy==
The genus was first described scientifically by [[Carl Linnaeus]] in 1753.<ref name="ing"/> The name ''Vaccinium'' was used in [[classical Latin]] for a plant, possibly the [[Vaccinium myrtillus|bilberry]] or a [[hyacinth (plant)|hyacinth]], and may be derived from the Latin ''bacca'', meaning berry, although its ultimate derivation is obscure.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Hyam |first1=R. |last2=Pankhurst |first2=R.J. |year=1995 |title=Plants and their names : a concise dictionary |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-866189-4 |name-list-style=amp}} p. 515.</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Coombes |first=Allen J. |year=1994 |title=Dictionary of Plant Names |location=London |publisher=Hamlyn Books |isbn=978-0-600-58187-1}} p. 187.</ref> It is not the same word as ''Vaccinum'', which means "of or pertaining to [[cow]]s".<ref>{{Cite book |title=Oxford Latin Dictionary |pages=2000 |editor=P.G.W. Glare |isbn=0-19-864224-5 |year=1996|publisher=Clarendon Press }}</ref>

The [[Taxonomy (biology)|taxonomy]] of the genus is complex and still under investigation. Genetic analyses indicate that the genus ''Vaccinium'' is not [[monophyletic]].<ref name="kron">{{cite journal |title=Phylogenetic relationships within the blueberry tribe (Vaccinieae, Ericaceae) based on sequence data from MATK and nuclear ribosomal ITS regions, with comments on the placement of ''Satyria'' |author1=Kathleen A. Kron |author2=E. Ann Powell |author3=J. L. Luteyn |journal=American Journal of Botany |year=2002 |volume=89 |pages=327–336 |doi=10.3732/ajb.89.2.327 |issue=2 |pmid=21669741}}</ref> A number of the Asian species are more closely related to ''[[Agapetes]]'' than to other ''Vaccinium'' species.<ref name="kron" /><ref>{{eFloras |2 |134285 |Vaccinium |family=Ericaceae |last1=Fang |first1=Ruizheng |first2=Peter F. |last2=Stevens}}</ref> A second group includes most of ''[[Orthaea (plant)|Orthaea]]'' and ''[[Notopora]]'', at least some of ''[[Gaylussacia]]'' (huckleberry), and a number of species from ''Vaccinium'', such as ''[[Vaccinium crassifolium|V.&nbsp;crassifolium]]''.<ref name="kron" /> Other parts of ''Vaccinium'' form other groups, sometimes together with species of other genera.<ref name="kron" /> The taxonomy of ''Vaccinium'' can either be resolved by enlarging the genus to include the entirety of the tribe [[Vaccinieae]] or by breaking the genus up into several genera.<ref name="kron" />

Two [[fossil]] seeds of ''V. minutulum'' have been extracted from [[borehole]] samples of the [[Middle Miocene]] freshwater deposits in [[Nowy Sacz]] Basin, [[West Carpathians]], [[Poland]].<ref>Łańcucka-Środoniowa M.: Macroscopic plant remains from the freshwater Miocene of the Nowy Sącz Basin (West Carpathians, Poland) [Szczątki makroskopowe roślin z miocenu słodkowodnego Kotliny Sądeckiej (Karpaty Zachodnie, Polska)]. Acta Palaeobotanica 1979 20 (1): 3–117.</ref>{{Additional source needed|date=January 2024}}

===Subgenera===
{{main|List of Vaccinium species|l1=List of ''Vaccinium'' species}}
[[File:Vaccinium oxycoccos Ypey28.jpg|thumbnail|upright=.7|right|''[[Cranberry|Vaccinium oxycoccos]]'', the common cranberry, one kind of cranberry]]
A classification predating [[molecular phylogeny]] divides ''Vaccinium'' into subgenera and several sections:
{{Div col}}
;Subgenus '''''Oxycoccus''''': The [[cranberry|cranberries]], with slender, trailing, wiry non-woody shoots and strongly reflexed flower petals. Some botanists treat ''Oxycoccus'' as a distinct genus.
*Sect. ''Oxycoccus''
**''[[Vaccinium macrocarpon]]'' – American cranberry
**''[[Vaccinium oxycoccos]]'' – common cranberry
**''[[Vaccinium microcarpum]]'' – small bog cranberry<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gbif.org/species/7135733 |title=GBIF: ''Vaccinium microcarpum'' |access-date=2016-10-17}}</ref><ref>{{EOL|2891482|Vaccinium microcarpum|access-date=2016-10-17}}</ref>
*Sect. ''Oxycoccoides''
**''[[Vaccinium erythrocarpum]]'' – southern mountain cranberry
**''[[Vaccinium japonicum]]'' – mountain blueberry
;Subgenus '''''Vaccinium''''': All the other species, with thicker, upright woody shoots and bell-shaped flowers.
*Sect. ''Batodendron''
**''[[Vaccinium arboreum]]'' – sparkleberry
**''[[Creeping blueberry|Vaccinium crassifolium]]'' – creeping blueberry
*Sect. ''Brachyceratium''
**''[[Vaccinium dependens]]''
*Sect. ''Bracteata''
**''[[Vaccinium acrobracteatum]]''
**''[[Vaccinium barandanum]]''
**''[[Vaccinium bracteatum]]''
**''[[Vaccinium coriaceum]]''
**''[[Vaccinium cornigerum]]''
**''[[Vaccinium cruentum]]''
**''[[Vaccinium hooglandii]]''
**''[[Vaccinium horizontale]]''
**''[[Vaccinium laurifolium]]''
**''[[Vaccinium lucidum]]''
**''[[Vaccinium myrtoides]]''
**''[[Vaccinium phillyreoides]]''
**''[[Vaccinium reticulatovenosum]]''
**''[[Vaccinium sparsum]]''
**''[[Vaccinium varingifolium]]''
*Sect. ''Ciliata''
**''[[Vaccinium ciliatum]]''
**''[[Vaccinium oldhamii]]'' - Japanese blueberry
*Sect. ''Cinctosandra''
**''[[Vaccinium exul]]''
*Sect. ''Conchophyllum''
**''[[Vaccinium corymbodendron]]''
**''[[Vaccinium delavayi]]''
**''[[Vaccinium emarginatum]]''
**''[[Vaccinium griffithianum]]''
**''[[Vaccinium moupinense]]'' – Himalayan blueberry
**''[[Vaccinium neilgherrense]]''
**''[[Vaccinium nummularia]]''
**''[[Vaccinium retusum]]''
*Sect. ''Cyanococcus'' – typical North American [[blueberry|blueberries]]
**''[[Vaccinium angustifolium]]'' – lowbush blueberry - also known as ''[[Vaccinium stenophyllum]]''<ref>{{Tropicos|12302882|Vaccinium stenophyllum}}</ref>
**''[[Vaccinium boreale]]'' – northern blueberry
**''[[Vaccinium caesariense]]'' – New Jersey blueberry
**''[[Vaccinium corymbosum]]'' – highbush blueberry
**''[[Vaccinium darrowii]]'' – evergreen blueberry
**''[[Vaccinium elliottii]]'' – Elliott's blueberry
**''[[Vaccinium formosum]]''
**''[[Vaccinium fuscatum]]'' – black highbush blueberry; syn. ''V.&nbsp;atrococcum''
**''[[Vaccinium hirsutum]]''
**''[[Vaccinium myrsinites]]'' – evergreen blueberry
**''[[Vaccinium myrtilloides]]'' – Canadian blueberry
**''[[Vaccinium pallidum]]'' <small>Ait.</small> – dryland blueberry;<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/species/frame/vapa4.htm |title=''Vaccinium pallidum'' Aiton |website=www.cas.Vanderbilt.edu |access-date=13 June 2017 |archive-date=25 April 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090425082800/http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/species/frame/vapa4.htm |url-status=dead}}</ref> syn. ''V. vacillans'' <small>Torr.</small>
**''[[Vaccinium simulatum]]''
**''[[Vaccinium tenellum]]''
**''[[Vaccinium virgatum]]'' – rabbiteye blueberry; syn. ''V.&nbsp;ashei''
*Sect. ''Eococcus''
**''[[Vaccinium fragile]]''
*Sect. ''Epigynium''
**''[[Vaccinium vacciniaceum]]''
*Sect. ''Galeopetalum''
**''[[Vaccinium chunii]]''
**''[[Vaccinium dunalianum]]''
**''[[Vaccinium glaucoalbum]]''
**''[[Vaccinium sikkimense]]'' (may not be treated as a separate species from ''V.&nbsp;glaucoalbum'')
**''[[Vaccinium urceolatum]]''
*Sect. ''Hemimyrtillus''
**''[[Vaccinium arctostaphylos]]''
**''[[Vaccinium cylindraceum]]''
**''[[Vaccinium hirtum]]''
**''[[Vaccinium padifolium]]'' – Madeira blueberry
**''[[Vaccinium smallii]]''
*Sect. ''Koreanum''
**''[[Vaccinium koreanum]]'' – Korean blueberry
*Sect. ''Myrtillus'' (including sect. ''Macropelma'') – bilberries and relatives. Monophyly of this section has been confirmed by matK and nuclear ribosomal ITS sequence data.<ref name="kron" />
**''[[Vaccinium calycinum]]'' <small>[[James Edward Smith (botanist)|Sm.]]</small> – {{lang|haw|[[ʻōhelo kau laʻau]]}} ([[Hawaii|Hawai{{okina}}i]])
**''[[Vaccinium cereum]]'' <small>(L.f.) Forst.f.</small> – east Polynesian blueberry, Pacific blueberry
**''[[Vaccinium cespitosum]]'' – [[dwarf bilberry]]
**''[[Vaccinium deliciosum]]'' – [[Cascade bilberry]], Cascade blueberry, blueleaf huckleberry
**''[[Vaccinium dentatum]]'' <small>[[James Edward Smith (botanist)|Sm.]]</small> – {{lang|haw|ʻōhelo}} (Hawai{{okina}}i)
**''[[Vaccinium membranaceum]]'' – [[square-twig blueberry]], thinleaf huckleberry, tall huckleberry, big huckleberry, mountain huckleberry, "[[black huckleberry]]"
**''[[Vaccinium myrtillus]]'' – [[common bilberry]], blue whortleberry, blaeberry, fraughan, hurtleberry
**''[[Vaccinium ovalifolium]]'' – [[Alaska blueberry]], early blueberry, oval-leaf blueberry
**''[[Vaccinium parvifolium]]'' – [[red huckleberry]]
**[[Vaccinium praestans]] – ''[[krasnika]]'' ({{langx|ru|[[:ru:красника|красника]]}}), Kamchatka bilberry
**''[[Vaccinium reticulatum]]'' – {{lang|haw|[[ʻōhelo ʻai]]}} (Hawai{{okina}}i)
**''[[Vaccinium scoparium]]'' – [[grouse whortleberry]], grouseberry, littleleaf huckleberry
**''[[Vaccinium shastense]]'' - [[Shasta huckleberry]]
*Sect. ''Neurodesia''
**''[[Vaccinium crenatum]]''
*Sect. ''Oarianthe''
**''[[Vaccinium ambyandrum]]''
**''[[Vaccinium cyclopense]]''
*Sect. ''Oreades''
**''[[Vaccinium poasanum]]''
*Sect. ''Pachyanthum''
**''[[Vaccinium fissiflorum]]''
*Sect. ''Polycodium''
**''[[Vaccinium stamineum]]'' <small>[[Carl Linnaeus|L.]]</small> – deerberry; syn. ''V.&nbsp;caesium'' (eastern North America) (images<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/species/frame/vast.htm |title=''Vaccinium stamineum'' L. |website=www.cas.Vanderbilt.edu |access-date=13 June 2017 |archive-date=25 April 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090425085811/http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/species/frame/vast.htm |url-status=dead}}</ref>)
*Sect. ''Pyxothamnus''
**''[[Vaccinium chihuahuense]]''
**''[[Vaccinium confertum]]''
**''[[Vaccinium consanguineum]]''
**''[[Vaccinium corymbodendron]]''
**''[[Vaccinium floribundum]]''
**''[[Vaccinium meridionale]]''
**''[[Vaccinium ovatum]]'' <small>[[Frederick Traugott Pursh|Pursh]]</small> – California huckleberry (or evergreen huckleberry) (coastal western North America). First collected and described for western science by Meriwether Lewis.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://plantsystematics.org/reveal/pbio/LnC/LnCpublic9.html |title=Lewis and Clark Herbarium - Plants collected by Lewis and Clark |website=plantsystematics.org|access-date=2019-12-20}}</ref>
*Sect. ''Vaccinium''
**''[[Vaccinium uliginosum]]'' <small>[[Carl Linnaeus|L.]]</small> – northern (or bog) bilberry (or blueberry); syn. ''V.&nbsp;occidentale'' (northern North America and Eurasia)
*Sect. ''Vitis-idaea''
**''[[Vaccinium vitis-idaea]]'' <small>[[Carl Linnaeus|L.]]</small> – partridgeberry, cowberry, redberry, red whortleberry, or lingonberry (northern North America and Eurasia)
{{Div col end}}