Vaccinium in the context of Dwarf shrub

Blueberries are a widely distributed and widespread group of perennial flowering plants with blue or purple berries. They are classified in the section Cyanococcus within the genus Vaccinium. Commercial blueberries—both wild (lowbush) and cultivated (highbush)—are all native to North America. The highbush varieties were introduced into Europe during the 1930s.

Blueberries are usually prostrate shrubs that can vary in size from 10 centimeters (4 inches) to 4 meters (13 feet) in height. In the commercial production of blueberries, the species with small, pea-size berries growing on low-level bushes is known as "lowbush blueberries" (synonymous with "wild"), while the species with larger berries growing on taller, cultivated bushes is known as "highbush blueberries". Canada is the leading producer of lowbush blueberries, while the United States produces some 29% of the world's supply of highbush blueberries.

Cranberries are a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines in the subgenus Oxycoccus of the genus Vaccinium. Cranberries are low, creeping shrubs or vines up to 2 meters (7 ft) long and 5 to 20 centimeters (2 to 8 in) in height; they have slender stems that are not thickly woody and have small evergreen leaves. The flowers are dark pink. The fruit is a berry that is larger than the leaves of the plant; it is initially light green, turning red when ripe. It is edible, but has an acidic taste.

In Britain, cranberry may refer to the native species Vaccinium oxycoccos, while in North America, cranberry may refer to Vaccinium macrocarpon. Vaccinium oxycoccos is cultivated in central and northern Europe, while V. macrocarpon is cultivated throughout the northern United States, Canada and Chile. In some methods of classification, Oxycoccus is regarded as a genus in its own right. Cranberries can be found in acidic bogs throughout the cooler regions of the Northern Hemisphere.

Huckleberry is a name used in North America for several plants in the family Ericaceae, in two closely related genera: Vaccinium and Gaylussacia.

The cultivated blueberry encompasses a wide variety of cultivars developed through plant breeding from plant species of the subgenus or section Cyanococcus within the genus Vaccinium. Blueberries belong to the plant family Ericaceae. Contrary to common assumption, cultivated blueberries do not descend from the European bilberry, blueberry, or whortleberry (Vaccinium myrtillus), whose fruits stain the mouth and lips blue when eaten, but originate from North America. The coloring anthocyanins are located in the skin of the nearly spherical, blue berries; their flesh is light-colored.

Since the beginning of the 20th century, over 100 new cultivars have been developed. Cultivated blueberries are of global importance as market fruits. Before their cultivation as a fruit supplier, the cultivated blueberry had already been introduced in European landscape architecture as an ornamental plant due to its decorative autumn coloration.