Blueberries are perennial plants from the Vaccinium genus, native to North America, and come in two main commercial types: lowbush (wild, small pea-sized berries) and highbush (cultivated, larger berries), with the latter introduced to Europe in the 1930s. By 2024, Canada was the leading producer of lowbush blueberries, while the United States supplied 29% of the world's highbush crop. Wild blueberries spread through cross-pollination and underground rhizomes, thriving in acidic soils with a pH between 4.2 and 5.2, and their harvest season in the Northern Hemisphere spans from May to August. The recognizable fruit, typically 5–16 mm across, is coated in a powdery wax called the "bloom" and ripens from green to a deep blue. Other similar wild berries, such as bilberries and huckleberries, are often sold under the "blueberry" name in other regions.