Are Vaccinium bracteatum and blueberry the same plant?
No, they are not.
One kind of blueberry is a low shrub, short and wild, with small particles and rich anthocyanins; The second is artificial cultivation of blueberries, which can grow to a height of 24cm, with large fruit and full pulp, improving the edible taste of wild blueberries and enhancing the absorption of anthocyanins by human body. Blueberry, a small berry, has a blue fruit with beautiful color. The blue fruit is wrapped by a layer of white fruit powder, with delicate pulp and tiny seeds. The average weight of blueberry fruit is .5～2.5g, the maximum weight is 5g, the edible rate is 1%, it is sweet and sour, and it has a pleasant aroma, so it is a good fresh food.
Vaccinium bracteatum Thunb, formerly known as "Southern Candle", alias: dyed black rice, black rice tree, black rice leaf, twisted fruit, etc., Latin name: Vaccinium bracteatum Thunb. Evergreen shrub or small tree of Ericaceae and Vaccinium, with terminal and axillary racemes and many flowers, densely pubescent in sequence axis. Purple-black when ripe, usually pubescent and sparsely hairless outside. The flowering period is June-July, and the fruiting period is August-October. The fruit tastes the same as blueberry. They are mostly distributed in China, Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangsu, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hunan, Hubei, Guangdong, Taiwan Province and other places. It has the effects of helping yang to replenish yin, improving eyesight and strengthening kidney, hence the name of Vaccinium bracteatum.
Morphological characteristics of Vaccinium bracteatum
Evergreen shrub or small tree, 2-6(-9) meters high; Branches are many, young branches are pubescent or hairless, and old branches are purplish brown and hairless. Leaf blade is thin leathery, elliptic, rhombic elliptic, lanceolate elliptic to lanceolate, 4-9 cm long and 2-4 cm wide, with sharp and tapering top, sparse and long tapering, wedge-shaped and broad wedge-shaped at the base < P >, sparse and obtuse, with fine serrations at the edge, flat and shiny surface, hairless on both sides, and 5-7 pairs of lateral veins extending obliquely to the edge. Petiole 2-8 mm long, usually glabrous or puberulent.
species classification
candelilla microphylla
is different from the original variety in that the leaves are smaller, 1.1-4 cm long and .7-1.4 cm wide; All parts of the plant are nearly hairless or hairless.
Guangdong, Hong Kong and southern Guangxi. Born in a mountain forest at an altitude of 83-1,22 meters. The type specimens were collected from Hong Kong.
candelilla obovata
is different from the original variety in that the leaves are small, obovate, 1.2-1.4 cm long and .9 cm wide, the top is obtuse, the edge is toothed, and the base is tapered.
produced in southeast Guangdong. Born in roadside grass. The model specimens were collected from Lianhua Mountain in Haifeng.
the light red southern candle
is different from the original variety in that the flowers are light red instead of white, and the corolla tube is narrow, with a diameter of (1.6-)2-3(-3.2) mm.
Jiangxi (Fenyi) and Zhejiang (Pingyang). Born in thickets or rock sides on mountain slopes. The type specimens were collected from Fenyi, Jiangxi.