Vaccinium cereum
| Vaccinium cereum | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Vaccinium cereum subsp. cheesemanii | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Embryophytes |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Ericales |
| Family: | Ericaceae |
| Genus: | Vaccinium |
| Species: | V. cereum |
| Binomial name | |
| Vaccinium cereum (L.f.) G.Forst. (1786) | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
| |
Vaccinium cereum is a South Pacific species of flowering plant in the heath family, Ericaceae.
Taxonomy
Three subdivisions are accepted:[1]
- Vaccinium cereum subsp. cereum – Society Islands (Tahiti) and Marquesas Islands
- Vaccinium cereum subsp. cheesemanii Skottsb. – Cook Islands (Rarotonga)
- Vaccinium cereum var. raiateense (J.W.Moore) M.L.Grant – Society Islands (Raiatea)
Vaccinium cereum is the type species of Vaccinium section Macropelma, but its phylogenetic relationships to other Vaccinium species are not fully clear. It differs from the Hawaiian species of section Macropelma in having a pseudo-ten-locular ovary as well as a determinate floral axis with flowers in all of the leaf axils. It is similar overall to Vaccinium macgillivrayi from Vanuatu and New Caledonia, and may be more closely related to the Asiatic section Bracteata than to the Hawaiian species, and/or may be of hybrid origin.[2]
Distribution and habitat
The shrub is native to the Cook Islands, Marquesas Islands, and Society Islands in the South Pacific.[1]
In the Marquesas Islands it inhabits dry and windswept mountaintops above 1,200 metres (3,900 feet), where it is a characteristic shrub in heathland growing up to 1 m (3+1⁄2 ft) tall, together Metrosideros collina, Styphelia tameiameiae, and Bidens spp., and interspersed with grasses and ferns.[3] On Tahiti it grows on windswept razor-back ridges from 800 to 1,400 m (2,600 to 4,600 ft) elevation.[4]
References
- 1 2 3 Vaccinium cereum (L.f.) G.Forst. Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
- ↑ Powell, E. A., & Kron, K. A. (2002). Hawaiian Blueberries and Their Relatives: A Phylogenetic Analysis of Vaccinium Sections Macropelma, Myrtillus, and Hemimyrtillus (Ericaceae). Systematic Botany, 27(4), 768–779. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3093922
- ↑ "Marquesas tropical moist forests". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.
- ↑ S. P. Vander Kloet. (1996). Taxonomy of Vaccinium sect. Macropelma (Ericaceae). Systematic Botany, 21(3), 355–364. https://doi.org/10.2307/2419664
External links
Media related to Vaccinium cereum at Wikimedia Commons
Data related to Vaccinium cereum at Wikispecies