Reproductive Biology of Wild Blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium Aiton)
Open Access
- 30 March 2019
- journal article
- research article
- Published by MDPI AG in Agriculture
- Vol. 9 (4), 69
- https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture9040069
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.Keywords
Funding Information
- USDA/NIFA Specialty Crop research Initiative Grant (2011-01389)
This publication has 71 references indexed in Scilit:
- Honey bee stocking numbers and wild blueberry production in Nova ScotiaCanadian Journal of Plant Science, 2012
- Evidence of functional gender polymorphisms in a population of the hermaphroditic lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium)1This article is part of a Special Issue entitled “A tribute to Sam Vander Kloet FLS: Pure and applied research from blueberries to heathland ecology”.Botany, 2012
- Generating Genomic Tools for Blueberry ImprovementInternational Journal of Fruit Science, 2012
- Commercial Bumble Bee Pollination of Lowbush BlueberryInternational Journal of Fruit Science, 2012
- Does Pollen ‘Neighborhood’ Affect Berry Yield In Lowbush Blueberry (Vaccinium AngustifoliumAit)?International Journal of Fruit Science, 2012
- Spatial genetic structure of lowbush blueberry,Vaccinium angustifolium, in four fields in MaineBotany, 2009
- Dose‐response relationships between pollination and fruiting refine pollinator comparisons for cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon [Ericaceae])American Journal of Botany, 2003
- A rapid and simple procedure to determine stigma receptivitySexual Plant Reproduction, 1998
- Regulation of Seed‐Set in Polemonium viscosum: Floral Scents, Pollination, and ResourcesEcology, 1985
- EFFECT OF SOIL MOISTURE AND FERTILIZER ON THE POTENTIAL AND ACTUAL YIELD OF LOWBUSH BLUEBERRIESCanadian Journal of Plant Science, 1984