Vaccinium bracteatum, the sea bilberry or Asiatic bilberry, is a species of Vaccinium native to Japan, the Ryukyu Islands, Korea, southeast and south central China, Hainan, Taiwan, mainland Southeast Asia, Java, and Sumatra.[2] It is a small tree or large shrub, with dark purple edible fruit. It is in semi-cultivation in China. Local people collect and consume the fruit, and in addition extract a bluish-violet dye from the leaves, which is used as a hair dye, for coloring vinegar, and in cooking. The dye turns black when cooked with rice, providing culinary interest.[3][4]

Vaccinium bracteatum
Foliage
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Ericales
Family: Ericaceae
Genus: Vaccinium
Species:
V. bracteatum
Binomial name
Vaccinium bracteatum
Synonyms[2]
List
    • Acosta spicata Lour.
    • Agapetes acosta Dunal
    • Agapetes spicata (Lour.) S.Moore
    • Andromeda sinensis Steud.
    • Epigynium acosta Klotzsch
    • Epigynium malaccense (Wight) Klotzsch
    • Pieris coreana H.Lév.
    • Pieris divaricata H.Lév.
    • Pieris fauriei H.Lév.
    • Pieris lucida H.Lév.
    • Pieris sinensis Sweet
    • Vaccinium acosta Raeusch.
    • Vaccinium buergeri Miq.
    • Vaccinium cambodianum Dop
    • Vaccinium donianum Miq.
    • Vaccinium idsuroei Franch. & Sav.
    • Vaccinium malaccense Wight
    • Vaccinium orientale Sw.
    • Vaccinium pubicarpum Ridl.
    • Vaccinium siamense H.R.Fletcher
    • Vaccinium spicatum (Lour.) Poir.

Varieties

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The following varieties are currently accepted:[2]

  • Vaccinium bracteatum var. chinense (Champ. ex Benth.) Chun ex Sleumer
  • Vaccinium bracteatum var. obovatum C.Y.Wu & R.C.Fang
  • Vaccinium bracteatum var. rubellum P.S.Hsu, J.X.Qiu, S.F.Huang & Y.Zhang
  • Vaccinium bracteatum var. thysanocalyx (Dop) Smitinand & P.H.Hô

References

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  1. ^ J.A.Murray (ed.), Syst. Veg. ed. 14: 363 (1784)
  2. ^ a b c "Vaccinium bracteatum Thunb". Plants of the World Online. Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 2017. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  3. ^ Lian, Weijia; Fan, Mingcong; Li, Tingting; Zhang, Xuetong; Rao, Zhiming; Li, Yan; Qian, Haifeng; Zhang, Hui; Qi, Xiguang; Wang, Li (2019). "A novel green synthesis approach for natural bluish-violet pigments derived from water extracts of Vaccinium bracteatum Thunb. Leaves". Industrial Crops and Products. 142: 111862. doi:10.1016/j.indcrop.2019.111862.
  4. ^ Jiang, Li; Xu, Qi-Xin; Qiao, Mu; Ma, Fei-Fei; Thakur, Kiran; Wei, Zhao-Jun (2017). "Effect of superfine grinding on properties of Vaccinium bracteatum Thunb leaves powder". Food Science and Biotechnology. 26 (6): 1571–1578. doi:10.1007/s10068-017-0126-y. PMC 6049701. PMID 30263694.