Cranberry
Cranberries are a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines in the subgenus Oxycoccus of the genus Vaccinium. Cranberries are low, creeping shrubs or vines up to long and in height; they have slender stems that are not thickly woody and have small evergreen leaves. The flowers are dark pink. The fruit is a berry that is larger than the leaves of the plant; it is initially light green, turning red when ripe. It is edible, but has an acidic taste.
In Britain, cranberry may refer to the native species Vaccinium oxycoccos, while in North America, cranberry may refer to Vaccinium macrocarpon. Vaccinium oxycoccos is cultivated in central and northern Europe, while V. macrocarpon is cultivated throughout the northern United States, Canada and Chile. In some methods of classification, Oxycoccus is regarded as a genus in its own right. Cranberries can be found in acidic bogs throughout the cooler regions of the Northern Hemisphere.
In 2020, the U.S., Canada, and Chile accounted for 97% of the world production of cranberries. Most cranberries are processed into products such as juice, sauce, jam, and sweetened dried cranberries, with the remainder sold fresh to consumers. Cranberry sauce is a traditional accompaniment to turkey at Christmas and Thanksgiving dinners in the U.S. and Canada, and at Christmas dinner in the United Kingdom.
Description and species
Cranberries are low, creeping shrubs or vines up to long and in height; they have slender, wiry stems that are not thickly woody and have small evergreen leaves. The flowers are dark pink, with very distinct reflexed petals, leaving the style and stamens fully exposed and pointing forward. They are pollinated by bees. The fruit is a berry that is larger than the leaves of the plant; it is initially light green, turning red when ripe. It has an acidic taste which usually overwhelms its sweetness.There are 4–5 species of cranberry, classified by subgenus:
Subgenus ''Oxycoccus''
Subgenus ''Oxycoccus'', sect. ''Oxycoccoides''
Similar species
Cranberries are related to bilberries, blueberries, and huckleberries, all in Vaccinium subgenus Vaccinium. These differ in having bell-shaped flowers, petals that are not reflexed, and woodier stems, forming taller shrubs.Etymology
The name cranberry derives from the Middle Low German kraanbere, first named as cranberry in English by the missionary John Eliot in 1647. Around 1694, German and Dutch colonists in New England used the word, cranberry, to represent the expanding flower, stem, calyx, and petals resembling the neck, head, and bill of a crane. The traditional English name for the plant more common in Europe, Vaccinium oxycoccos, fenberry, originated from plants with small red berries found growing in fen lands of England.File:Jonathan eastman johnson cranberry harvest.jpg|thumb|The Cranberry Harvest on the Island of Nantucket, Eastman Johnson, 1880.Cultivation
veteran Henry Hall first cultivated cranberries in the Cape Cod town of Dennis around 1816. In the 1820s, Hall was shipping cranberries to New York City and Boston from which shipments were also sent to Europe. In 1843, Eli Howes planted his own crop of cranberries on Cape Cod, using the "Howes" variety. In 1847, Cyrus Cahoon planted a crop of "Early Black" variety near Pleasant Lake, Harwich, Massachusetts.By 1900, were under cultivation in the New England region. In 2021, the total output of cranberries harvested in the United States was, with Wisconsin as the largest state producer, followed by Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Oregon.
Cranberries have had two major breeding events. The first occurred in the 1920s, with aims to create a crop that was more insect-resistant, specifically to blunt-nosed leafhopper, the vector of cranberry false blossom disease. This resulted in cultivars such as "Stevens" and "Franklin". As such, cultivars like "Howes" tend to be more susceptible to insects than "Stevens". However, with the introduction of many broad-spectrum pesticides in the 1940s and 1950s, breeders eventually stopped breeding for pest resistance. Instead, beginning in the 1980s, cranberries were bred for high-yielding varieties, leading to cultivars such as "Crimson Queen" and "Mullica Queen". Many of these varieties were spearheaded and bred by Dr. Nicholi Vorsa of Rutgers University. In more recent years, there have been heavier restrictions on pesticides due to environmental safety concerns, leading to a greater emphasis on high yield, high resistance varieties.
Geography and bog method
Historically, cranberry beds were constructed in wetlands. Today's cranberry beds are constructed in upland areas with a shallow water table. The topsoil is scraped off to form dykes around the bed perimeter. Clean sand is hauled in and spread to a depth of. The surface is laser leveled flat to provide even drainage. Beds are frequently drained with socked tile in addition to the perimeter ditch. In addition to making it possible to hold water, the dykes allow equipment to service the beds without driving on the vines. Irrigation equipment is installed in the bed to provide irrigation for vine growth and for spring and autumn frost protection.A common misconception about cranberry production is that the beds remain flooded throughout the year. During the growing season cranberry beds are not flooded, but are irrigated regularly to maintain soil moisture. Beds are flooded in the autumn to facilitate harvest and again during the winter to protect against low temperatures. In cold climates like Wisconsin, New England, and eastern Canada, the winter flood typically freezes into ice, while in warmer climates the water remains liquid. When ice forms on the beds, trucks can be driven onto the ice to spread a thin layer of sand to control pests and rejuvenate the vines. Sanding is done every three to five years.
Propagation
Cranberry vines are propagated by moving vines from an established bed. The vines are spread on the surface of the sand of the new bed and pushed into the sand with a blunt disk. The vines are watered frequently during the first few weeks until roots form and new shoots grow. Beds are given frequent, light application of nitrogen fertilizer during the first year. The cost of renovating cranberry beds is estimated to be between.Ripening and harvest
Cranberries are harvested in the fall when the fruit takes on its distinctive deep red color, and most ideally after the first frost. This is usually in September through the first part of November. Berries that receive sun turn a deep red when fully ripe, while those that do not fully mature are a pale pink or white color. To harvest cranberries, the beds are flooded with of water above the vines. A harvester is driven through the beds to remove the fruit from the vines. For the past 50 years, water reel type harvesters have been used. Harvested cranberries float in the water and can be corralled into a corner of the bed and conveyed or pumped from the bed. From the farm, cranberries are taken to receiving stations where they are cleaned, sorted, and stored prior to packaging or processing. While cranberries are harvested when they take on their deep red color, they can also be harvested beforehand when they are still white, which is how white cranberry juice is made. Yields are lower on beds harvested early and the early flooding tends to damage vines, but not severely. Vines can also be trained through dry picking to help avoid damage in subsequent harvests.Although most cranberries are wet-picked as described above, 5–10% of the US crop is still dry-picked. This entails higher labor costs and lower yield, but dry-picked berries are less bruised and can be sold as fresh fruit instead of having to be immediately frozen or processed. Originally performed with two-handed comb scoops, dry picking is today accomplished by motorized, walk-behind harvesters which must be small enough to traverse beds without damaging the vines.
Cranberries for fresh market are stored in shallow bins or boxes with perforated or slatted bottoms, which deter decay by allowing air to circulate. Because harvest occurs in late autumn, cranberries for fresh markets are frequently stored in thick walled barns without mechanical refrigeration. Temperatures are regulated by opening and closing vents in the barn as needed. Cranberries destined for processing are usually frozen in bulk containers shortly after arriving at a receiving station.
Diseases
Diseases of cranberry include:- Cranberry fruit rot
- Cranberry root rot
- Cranberry false blossom disease, caused by a phytoplasma that is vectored by the blunt-nosed leafhopper, and prevents the plant from creating fertile flowers and thus berries.
Insect pests
- Sparganothis sulfureana, a leafrolling moth
- Acrobasis vaccinii, a snout moth
- Rhopobota naevana, a leafrolling moth
- Choristoneura parallela, a leafrolling moth
Other well studied cranberry pests include:
- Limotettix vaccinii, a leafhopper
- Lymantria dispar, an invasive moth
- Dasineura oxycoccana, a gall-forming midge
- Chrysoteuchia topiarius, a snout moth
- Anthonomus musculus, a weevil
- Systena frontalis, a flea beetle
- Otiorhynchus sulcatus, an invasive weevil
- Anomala orientalis, an invasive scarab beetle