Year-end Sale % OFF 
Abstract
Wild blueberry, Vaccinium angustifolium Aiton, is a native forest understory plant that is managed as a fruit crop. Over the past 51 years, experiments have been conducted to investigate its reproduction. A model was developed that predicts bloom to begin at 100° days (base 4.4 °C) after 1 April and to end at 500° days for a period of three to four weeks. Flower stigmas are only receptive to pollen deposition for eight to 10 days, and the rate of fruit set declines rapidly after four days. Placement of pollen upon receptive stigmas suggests that fruit set occurs with as little as a single pollen tetrad. Twelve tetrads result in 50% fruit set. Several years of exploratory fruit set field experiments show viable seeds per berry, which result from pollination with compatible genotype pollen, is associated with larger berry mass (g). Decomposition of the total variance in fruit set shows that stem variation explains 65% to 79% of total variance in the fruit set. To a lesser extent, the field, year, and clone also explain the percent fruit set variation. Variation between stems may be due to variation in the number of flowers. Fruit set tends to decrease as the flower density increases, possibly due to the limitation of pollinators.
Highlights
Wild North American blueberry is a native North American fruit crop that has not benefited from genetic improvement breeding programs, as has highbush blueberry, Vaccinium corymbosum L. [1]
Five species and hybrids can be found in Maine including Vaccinium angustifolium Aiton, V. myrtilloides
This study shows that variation among stems contribute most to the percent fruit set, greater than among years, and among fields
Summary
Wild North American blueberry ( known as lowbush blueberry) is a native North American fruit crop that has not benefited from genetic improvement breeding programs, as has highbush blueberry, Vaccinium corymbosum L. [1]. Wild North American blueberry ( known as lowbush blueberry) is a native North American fruit crop that has not benefited from genetic improvement breeding programs, as has highbush blueberry, Vaccinium corymbosum L. This crop is essentially a wild complex of Vaccinium species that form the natural understory vegetation of Eastern North American forests [2,3]. Five species and hybrids can be found in Maine including Vaccinium angustifolium Aiton, V. myrtilloides. Michx., V. angustifolium X V. corymbosum hybrids, V. boreale I.V. Hall and Alders, and V. pallidum
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
