Vaccinium vitis-idaea

Vaccinium vitis-idaea is a small evergreen shrub in the heath family, Ericaceae. It is known colloquially as the lingonberry, partridgeberry,Template:Efn foxberry, mountain cranberry, or cowberry. It is native to boreal forest and Arctic tundra throughout the Northern Hemisphere. Commercially cultivated in the United States Pacific Northwest<ref>"Economic Evaluation of Lingonberry Production in Oregon" "Oregon State University Extension Service" Dec 2003 [1]</ref> and the Netherlands,<ref name="Rozāne" /> the edible berries are also picked in the wild and used in various dishes, especially in Nordic cuisine.

Description

Vaccinium vitis-idaea spreads by underground stems to form dense clonal colonies.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Slender and brittle roots grow from the underground stems. The stems are rounded in cross-section and grow from Template:Convert in height. Leaves grow alternately and are oval, Template:Convert long, with a slightly wavy margin, and sometimes with a notched tip.Template:Citation needed

The flowers are bell-shaped, white to pale pink, Template:Convert long.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> V. vitis-idaea begins to produce flowers from five to ten years of age.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite journal</ref> They are pollinated by multiple insect species, including Andrena lapponica and several species of bumblebee.<ref name=":0" />

The fruit is a red berry Template:Convert across, with an acidic taste, ripening in late summer to autumn.<ref name="FNA">Flora of North America: Vaccinium vitis-idaea</ref> While bitter early in the season, they sweeten if left on the branch through winter.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Cytology is 2n = 24.<ref name="y832">Template:Cite journal</ref>

• Vaccinium vitis-idaea L..jpg

  19th-century illustration

• Vaccinium vitis-idaea (flowering).jpg

  Flowers

• Vaccinium vitisidaea flower.jpg

  Flowers and young shoots

• Vaccinium vitis-idaea and Empetrum nigrum 20230823.jpg

  V. vitis-idaea and Empetrum nigrum in Denali National Park

• Tyttebær.jpg

  Ripe lingonberries

Related species

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.Template:Citation needed Vaccinium oxycoccos is similar.<ref name="tktimb">Template:Cite book</ref>

Hybrids between Vaccinium vitis-idaea and V. myrtillus, named Vaccinium × intermedium Ruthe, are occasionally found in Europe.Template:Citation needed

Taxonomy

Varieties

File:Vaccinium vitis-idaea var minus Denali AK.jpg

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 are Template:Convert long.
• V. vitis-idaea var. minus Lodd.—syn. V. vitis-idaea subsp. minus (Lodd.) Hultén.
  lingonberry. North America. Leaves are Template:Convert long.<ref name="FNA" />

Etymology

Vaccinium vitis-idaea is most commonly known in English as 'lingonberry' or 'cowberry'.<ref name="stang">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Gray's Manual of Botany">Gray's Manual of Botany: Asa Gray</ref><ref name="USDA">Template:PLANTS</ref> The name 'lingonberry' originates from the Swedish name {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} ({{#invoke:IPA|main}}) for the species deriving from Old Norse lyngr, a cognate (thus also a doublet) to 'ling'.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

The genus name Vaccinium is a classical Latin name for a plant, possibly the bilberry or hyacinth, and may be derived from the Latin {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, 'berry'.<ref>Template:Cite book p. 515.</ref><ref>Template:Cite book p. 187.</ref> The specific name is derived from Latin {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} ('vine') and {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, the feminine form of {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (literally 'from Mount Ida', used in reference to raspberries Rubus idaeus).<ref name="mw">Template:Cite dictionary</ref><ref name="bo">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Worldwide, Vaccinium vitis-idaea is known by at least 25 other common English names, including:<ref name="stang" />

• bearberry
• beaverberry
• cougarberry
• foxberry
• lowbush cranberry
• mountain bilberry
• mountain cranberry
• partridgeberry<ref name="Hall">Template:Cite book</ref> (in Newfoundland and Cape Breton Island)
• quailberry
• red whortleberry
• redberry (in Labrador and the Lower North Shore of Quebec)

Distribution and habitat

It is native to boreal forest and Arctic tundra throughout the Northern Hemisphere, including Eurasia and North America.

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 −50 °F (−45 °C) 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.Template:Citation needed

Conservation

The plant is endangered in Michigan.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The minus subspecies is listed as a species of special concern and believed extirpated in Connecticut.<ref>"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.)</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Cultivation

Lingonberry has been commercially cultivated in the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Poland, the USA and Latvia since the 1960s.<ref name="Rozāne">Template:Cite news</ref>

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Uses

Culinary

Template:More citations needed section Template:Stack Raw lingonberries are 86% water, 13% carbohydrates, 1% protein, and contain negligible fat.<ref name="foodcomp">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In a Template:Convert reference amount, lingonberries supply 54 kcal, and are low-to-moderate sources of vitamin C, B vitamins, and dietary minerals.<ref name="foodcomp" />

The berries collected in the wild are a popular fruit in northern, central and eastern Europe, notably in the Nordic countries,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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.Template:Citation needed

In Sweden the traditional Swedish meatballs are served with lingonberry jam alongside boiled or mashed potatoes and gravy sauce. 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 {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (literally 'lingonberry pears'), consisting of fresh pears which are peeled, boiled and preserved in {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (lingonberry juice) and is commonly eaten during Christmas. This was very common in old timesTemplate:When, 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 {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (watered lingonberries); the procedure preserved them until next season. This was also a home remedy against scurvy.Template:Citation needed

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 ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) with mashed potatoes and lingonberries on the side, either raw, thawed or as a jam. In Finland, whipped semolina pudding flavored with lingonberry ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) 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.Template:Citation needed

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.Template:Citation needed

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 cocktail.Template:Citation needed

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.Template:Citation needed

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.<ref>Heller, Christine A., 1953, Edible and Poisonous Plants of Alaska, University of Alaska, page 109</ref> The Dakelh use the berries to make jam.<ref>Carrier Linguistic Committee, 1973, Plants of Carrier Country, Fort St. James, BC. Carrier Linguistic Committee, page 76</ref> The Koyukon freeze the berries for winter use.<ref>Nelson, Richard K., 1983, Make Prayers to the Raven—A Koyukon View of the Northern Forest, Chicago. The University of Chicago Press, page 55</ref> 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.<ref>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.</ref> The Iñupiat use the berries to make two different desserts, one in which the berries are whipped with frozen fish eggs and eaten, and one in which raw berries are mashed with canned milk and seal oil. They also make a dish of the berries cooked with fish eggs, fish (whitefish, sheefish or pike) and blubber.<ref>Jones, Anore, 1983, Nauriat Niginaqtuat = Plants That We Eat, Kotzebue, Alaska. Maniilaq Association Traditional Nutrition Program, page 86</ref>

The Upper Tanana boil the berries with sugar and flour to thicken; eat the raw berries, either plain or mixed with sugar, grease or a combination of the two; fry them in grease with sugar or dried fish eggs; or 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.<ref name="Kari, Priscilla Russe 1985, page 9">Kari, Priscilla Russe, 1985, Upper Tanana Ethnobotany, Anchorage. Alaska Historical Commission, page 9</ref>

Use of the minus subspecies

The Anticosti people use the fruit to make jams and jellies.<ref>Rousseau, Jacques, 1946, Notes Sur L'ethnobotanique D'anticosti, Archives de Folklore 1:60-71, page 68</ref> 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, or stew them with fish or meat.<ref name="Leighton, Anna L. 1985, page 64">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</ref> The Iñupiat of Nelson Island eat the berries,<ref>Ager, Thomas A. and Lynn Price Ager, 1980, Ethnobotany of The Eskimos of Nelson Island, Alaska, Arctic Anthropology 27:26-48, page 37</ref> as do the Iñupiat of the Northern Bering Sea and Arctic regions of Alaska,<ref>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</ref> as well as the Inuvialuit.<ref name="Wilson, Michael R. 1978, page 183">Wilson, Michael R., 1978, Notes on Ethnobotany in Inuktitut, The Western Canadian Journal of Anthropology 8:180-196, page 183</ref> The Haida people, Hesquiaht First Nation, Wuikinuxv and Tsimshian all use the berries as food.<ref>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</ref>

Traditional medicine

In traditional medicine, V. vitis-idaea was used as an apéritif and astringent.<ref name="jad">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Upper Tanana ate the berries or used their juice to treat minor respiratory disorders.<ref name="Kari, Priscilla Russe 1985, page 9" />

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.<ref name="Leighton, Anna L. 1985, page 64" /> The Western Canadian Inuit use the minus subspecies as a tobacco additive or substitute.<ref name="Wilson, Michael R. 1978, page 183" />

External links

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