I paid a visit to the unplanned scrubland Eden the other day and came across something very interesting. Check this out:
Definitely some sort of blueberry, though this one was as tall as me.
Rabbiteye blueberries are ripening right now but these aren’t there yet. Anyone have a guess as to what it might be?
Native – or an escapee? My bet is on the former. There are a lot of blueberries and relatives in Florida… I’ve just not come across this one before. It’s growing in terrible soil. If the fruit tastes good I might have to take cuttings and see if they’ll root in my nursery.
Let me know in the comments if you have a guess on this Florida blueberry. Gotta be some kind of Vaccinum!
7 responses to “Unknown Variety of Wild Florida Blueberry – Guesses Welcome!”
I would vote for rabbiteye. There are some late-ripening varieties. I'm on the border between zones 7 & 8, and I have been picking berries for about a week from some of my bushes–others I haven't even started yet. They might all be ripening in central Florida, I suppose. The size fits–my tallest plant is now about 5' high.
A friend made the same guess – it may be. Certainly looks similar. I'm also wonderring if it might be one of these:
http://www.floridata.com/ref/v/Vaccinium_corymbosum.cfm
Or, more likely, these:
http://www.floridata.com/ref/V/vacc_sta.cfm
I would guess sparkleberry tree! If so, that would be Vaccinium arboreum..I rarely find ripe berries…guess the wildlife love them…it is a lovely tree!
That bush is vaccinium arboreum, or sparkleberry. I grew up near Titusville, and I have used this shrub/small tree for many different things over the last three or so decades. It is prolific in that area. The fruit is delicious in flavor, but dry and grainy in texture. It makes a decent jelly, but as a jam, you must have a genuine taste for the wild foods, as the result will be swampy textured, but good flavored. In central Florida, it flowers white in April, with the fruit coming into maturity in June. Because of the birds, you will be very hard pressed ever to gather them in quantity. Besides, there are many other blueberry species that are generally superior to sparkleberry where the fruit is concerned. The spring leaves make a nice springtime tea, but again, domestic blueberry is far superior for this purpose. Hope this helped!
Thank you, Roger. That sounds right.
They grow very well on my property and I am pleased to be able to enjoy them as I walk my property….I’m a grazer! I found them wild a few yrs ago and have pruned them here and there for fuller production. A nice, free . native berry.
This looks like what I have growing in my back yard. I have been trying to identify them. Right now they have white bell shaped flowers. I was trying to decide whether they were edible or poisonous berries