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Blueberries are perennial flowering plants with indigo-colored berries from the section ''Cyanococcus'' within the genus ''Vaccinium'' (a genus that also includes cranberries, bilberries and grouseberries). Species in the section ''Cyanococcus'' are the most common fruits sold as "blueberries" and are native to North America (commercially cultivated highbush blueberries were not introduced into Europe until the 1930s).〔 Blueberries are usually erect, prostrate shrubs that can vary in size from to in height. In the commercial production of blueberries, the smaller species are known as "low-bush blueberries" (synonymous with "wild"), while the larger species are known as "high-bush blueberries". The leaves can be either deciduous or evergreen, ovate to lanceolate, and long and broad. The flowers are bell-shaped, white, pale pink or red, sometimes tinged greenish. The fruit is a berry in diameter with a flared crown at the end; they are pale greenish at first, then reddish-purple, and finally dark purple when ripe. They are covered in a protective coating of powdery epicuticular wax, colloquially known as the "bloom". They have a sweet taste when mature, with variable acidity. Blueberry bushes typically bear fruit in the middle of the growing season: fruiting times are affected by local conditions such as altitude and latitude, so the peak of the crop can vary from May to August (in the northern hemisphere) depending upon these conditions. ==Origins== The genus ''Vaccinium'' has a mostly circumpolar distribution with species in North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. Many commercially sold species with English common names including "blueberry" are currently classified in section ''Cyanococcus'' of the genus ''Vaccinium'' and come predominantly from North America. Many North American native species of blueberries are grown commercially in the Southern Hemisphere in Australia, New Zealand and South American nations. Several other wild shrubs of the genus ''Vaccinium'' also produce commonly eaten blue berries, such as the predominantly European ''Vaccinium myrtillus'' and other bilberries, which in many languages have a name that translates to "blueberry" in English. See the Identification section for more information. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「blueberry」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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