ABSTRACT
American cranberry (V. macrocarpon) is a small, mat-forming, evergreen, creeping shrub natively found in swamps and acid bogs in a range from North Carolina to Minnesota and north to Newfoundland (Bailey and Bailey, 1976). The red fruits measure 12-20 mm wide, whereas those of the European cranberry measure 6-8 mm wide (Vaughan and Geissler, 1997). The leaves are 1.9 cm in length, elliptical-oblong with whitish undersides. The pink flowers (0.8 cm long) occur in clusters (Bailey and Bailey, 1976). Cultivars are grown commercially in Canada, England, and the United States. Related species include V. oxycoccos L. (small cranberry or Euro-
pean cranberry), V. erythrocarpum Michx. (southern mountain cranberry), V. vitis (lowbush cranberry), and V. corymbosum (highbush cranberry) (Vaughan and Geissler, 1997).
