Maine State Berry

Wild Blueberry

(Vaccinium angustifolium, aiton)

Adopted in 1991.

The Wild Blueberry, Vaccinium angustifolium, aiton, was adopted as Maine's state berry in 1991.

Maine's 60,000 acres of Wild Blueberries grow naturally in fields and barrens that stretch from Down east to the state's southwest corner. Adapted to Maine's naturally acid, low fertility soils and challenging winters, Wild Blueberries are a low input crop requiring minimal management. The berries are grown on a two-year cycle — each year, half of a grower's land is managed to encourage vegetative growth and the other half is prepared for a Wild Blueberry harvest in August. After the harvest the plants are pruned to the ground by mowing or burning.

Harvested from late July to early September in Maine. Harvesting is still mainly by hand rake- a close-tined special RAKE invented about 112 years ago by a local Downeaster, Abijah Tabbutt and modified in minor variations since then. The secretis in the wielding of the rake - a special pushing and twisting motion of the wrists designed to tease the ripe berries from their grasp of the vine without crushing. Hand-raking is increasingly being replaced by mechanized harvesting. Although the technology is getting very good, hand-raking will always have its place - due in large part to the hilly and rocky terrain that a lot of wild blueberry patches are found on.

Habit and Form

a deciduous, twiggy shrub
open, leggy crown
6" to 2' tall
2' wide
medium texture
moderate growth rate

Summer Foliage

alternate leaf arrangement
simple, deciduous shape
lanceolate leaf shape
0.33" to .75" long
serrulate leaf margins
dark green leaf color

Autumn Foliage

reddish, bronze fall color
showy

Flowers

white flowers
0.25" diameter
blooms in May
showy

Fruit

bluish-black fruit
sweet and edible
up to 0.5" across
matures in mid- to late-summer

Taxonomic Hierarchy
Kingdom	Plantae -- Plants
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta -- Vascular plants
Superdivision	Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division	Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class	Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass	Dilleniidae –
Order	Ericales –
Family	Ericaceae – Heath family
Genus	Vaccinium
Species	Vaccinium angustifolium, aiton

State Fruits

Fruits, Berries, and Nuts

Fruit is a necessary part of any nutritious diet. Fruits are an excellent source of vitamin C and fiber, they contain no cholesterol, and they are low in fat

fruit (frt)
n. pl. fruit or fruits

1.
a. The ripened ovary or ovaries of a seed-bearing plant, together with accessory parts, containing the seeds and occurring in a wide variety of forms.
b. An edible, usually sweet and fleshy form of such a structure.
c. A part or an amount of such a plant product, served as food: fruit for dessert.
2. The fertile, often spore-bearing structure of a plant that does not bear seeds.
3. A plant crop or product: the fruits of the earth.

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