Southern Highbush Blueberry Cultivars from the University of Florida
May 10, 2019
1 min read
Updated: Nov 3, 2021
J. G. Williamson, D. A. Phillips, P. M. Lyrene, and P. R. Munoz
Blueberries are native to eastern North America and are one of the few crop plants that originated here. The woods and swamps of Florida are populated with at least eight wild blueberry species, including the highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum), the rabbiteye blueberry (Vaccinium virgatum), and the evergreen blueberry (Vaccinium darrowii). No area of the state lacks wild blueberries, except where soil pH is above 6.0
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I didn’t realize Florida had such a long history with native blueberry species, so this was actually pretty interesting to read. The southern highbush cultivars are especially interesting because they have to deal with Florida’s very different growing conditions. I’d be curious to see how the different cultivars compare in terms of flavor, yield, and harvest time. There’s some useful information here, and spinmama could be a nice little extra resource to check while browsing. I’d definitely like to see more about how these varieties perform in different parts of the state.