Vaccinium floribundum

Vaccinium floribundum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Asterids
Order:	Ericales
Family:	Ericaceae
Genus:	Vaccinium
Species:	V. floribundum
Binomial name
	Vaccinium floribundum; Kunth 1819
Synonyms[1]
	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 a dish celebrating the Day of the Dead along with spices and other chopped fruits.[2]

References

External links

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

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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.