Vaccinium meridionale

Vaccinium meridionale, the Agraz or Andean blueberry, is a species in the section Conchophyllum of the genus Vaccinium, in the heath and heather family. It is found in the mountains of Colombia and Venezuela and may have been introduced to Jamaica. Like so‑called wild blueberries in North America, it is artisanally tended in a manner that differs little from wild growing conditions, with few inputs. Its fruit is gathered in the wild and widely sold in local health food markets and grocery stores.[3]

Vaccinium meridionale
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Ericales
Family: Ericaceae
Genus: Vaccinium
Species:
V. meridionale
Binomial name
Vaccinium meridionale
Synonyms[2]
  • Metagonia meridionalis (Sw.) Nutt.
  • Vaccinium caracasanum Kunth

Description

It is a shrub which measures from 1.5 m to 7 m in height. The leaves are simple, alternate, elliptical to oval in shape, coriaceous (leathery), with a sharp, slight apiculate apex, cuneate base and a crenate margin. The flowers are tetramerous, or sometimes pentamerous, with a white corolla, possibly marked with pink or red. The inflorescence is racemic, producing 10 to 15 flowers per raceme. The fruits are round, approximately 1.2 cm in diameter, green during growth and dark red (giving the appearance of black or violet) upon reaching maturity, with an acid taste.[4][5]

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References
  1. Prodr. 62. 1788
  2. "Vaccinium meridionale Sw". The Plant List.
  3. Medina Cano, Clara I.; Martínez Bustamante, Enrique; López Orozco, Carlos A. (2019). "Phenological scale for the mortiño or agraz (Vaccinium meridionale Swartz) in the high Colombian Andean area". Revista Facultad Nacional de Agronomía Medellín. 72 (3). doi:10.15446/rfnam.v72n3.74460.
  4. Ruiz Pérez, Gimena (2011) «Mortiño, fruta promisoria para la salud y la economía del país.» Archived 2016-03-05 at the Wayback Machine un Periódico 145.
  5. Castañeda Riascos, Ivonne Marcela (2006) «Caracterización y divulgación del conocimiento de poblaciones de (Vaccinium meridionales) mortiño, presentes en los bosques alto andinos de la jurisdicción de Corantioquia. Segunda fase.» Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine Tesis de grado. Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Medellín.
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