Articles
INTRODUCTION AND BREEDING OF VACCINIACEAE IN SIBERIA
Twenty forms of Oxycoccus gigas Hagerup and 26 forms of Vaccinium uliginosum L. have been selected from the natural populations of Western Siberia from a complex of valuable signs.
Methods have been developed for the creation of interspecific and intergeneric hybrids, polyploids and mutants, making preparations for chromosome calculation, longterm storage of pollen, seed, vegetative and microclonal propagation and breeding process acceleration.
The collection of living plants contains 20 species, 414 natural specimens of different geographical origin, 128 selected forms, 70 cultivars and 319 interspecific hybrids.
The Family Vacciniaceae S.f.
Gray (= subfamily Vaccinioideae Drude from family Ericaceae D.C.) contains about 20 genera and 300 species.
As food plants the species of the genera Vaccinium L. (subgenera Cyanococcus Gray, Euvaccinium Gray and others) and Oxycoccus Hill / = subgenus Oxycoccus (Hill) Gray/ are the most important,. These genera contain more than 150 species. Vaccinium and Oxycoccus of North America such as large cranberry – ). macrocarpus Pursh ( = V. macrocarpon Ait.), highbush blueberry (V. corymbosum L., V. australe Small, and their hybrids between each other and with species of lowbush blueberry), rabbiteye blueberry (V. ashei Reade) and lowbush blueberry (V. angustifolium Ait.) are grown as commercial cultivars.
At present the investigations on the introduction of small cranberry (O. palustris Pers., or rather its hexaploid race O.gigas Hagerup), cowberry (V.vitis–idaea L.), bog bilberry (V. uliginosum L.) and whortleberry (V. myrtillus L.) are being carried out in Russia and other countries of Europe.