Flowers to Fruit

As part of our Cycles of Gaia ecological calendar project, over the next year, we’re sharing an insight each month on one of the member species of the calendar, or some other ecological element of the Northeast Coastal Zone (southern New England) drawn out by the calendar. This month, in the midst of summer, we focus on the transition of flowers into fruits.

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Last month, we explored the fascinating history of the shadbush, or serviceberry, as it began to fruit in June (and persists through July). Now, in the peak of the summer, many other plants are beginning to bear fruit. American beech, highbush blueberry, mountain laurel, pagoda dogwood, white pine, white oak, and witch hazel, among others, are some of the plants on the Cycles of Gaia calendar that begin fruiting this time of year. Fruiting is not the only process that occurs this month though, as you may see red maples’ samaras helicoptering down to the ground and sowing tiny new maple trees. At the same time, the peak of leafing season continues.

As blueberries are such a common fruit enjoyed by most, I will dive into the fruiting stage of the highbush blueberry. Blueberries grow in two primary varieties: lowbush and highbush.

While both are native to northeast North America and surrounding parts of Canada, the highbush variety is what has been cultivated into what you would typically find in grocery stores. Before 1916, the highbush blueberry could only be found in the wild, but has since been cultivated to become the predominantly consumed variety (‘Dunfee’ Highbush Blueberry). Scientifically named Vaccinium corymbosum, this fruit shares its genus (Vaccinium) with cranberries, huckleberries, lingonberries, and of course lowbush blueberries, and is in the same family (Ericaceae) as azaleas, mountain laurels, and rhododendrons. “Like other heather family plants, highbush blueberries are acid-loving plants [typically a pH of 4.5-5.2] that are adapted to living in low-fertility habitats such as bogs and heaths” (Highbush Blueberry Plant Care: How To Grow Highbush Blueberry Plants). “It can grow 6 to 12 feet tall, [and is] an upright, multi-stemmed, slow-growing deciduous shrub [that can also be] found naturally in […] swamps and high elevation forests” (Extension Gardener).

The early 1900s brought about the first blueberry cultivation, with Elizabeth White and Frederick Coville (a USDA botanist) each conducting independent research. White lived on a New Jersey cranberry farm, to which she invited Corville to work so they could continue their research together. After five years of collaboration on this farm, they “[harvested] and [sold] their first commercial crop of blueberries in 1916” (Blueberries Around the Globe – Past, Present, and Future).

Advances in genetics and production methods over the past century have allowed blueberries to be grown across the United States and all around the world—“in at least 30 countries in 2019 and in a variety of climates.” “The major classes of blueberry plants now grown commercially are highbush, lowbush (sometimes referred to as wild), half-high (a cross between highbush and lowbush species), Rabbiteye, and Southern highbush. Plant production can be short or long-lived, with some cultivar plants productive for as little as 1-5 years or as long as 40-60 years” (Blueberries Around the Globe – Past, Present, and Future).

As always, be cautious of which berries you eat if you pick them yourself. But if you do come across some naturally-growing blueberries this month, enjoy their delicious yumminess and be sure to save some for other animals in the area!