The U.S. Postal Service issued this 4¢ Blueberries pane of 20 adhe­sive stamps on January 9, 2022 in Blue Hill, ME. The stamp features a pen, ink and watercolor illustration of a cluster of blueberries and leaves by John Burgoyne of West Barnstable, MA.

     Though wild blueberries are abundant, the fruit was not cultivated before the 20th century. While others had tried to domesticate the plant, it was Frederick Coville, a U.S. Dept. of Agriculture scientist, who discovered, after much trial and error, that the plants thrive in acidic soil. Soon after he published his results in 1910, he began a long collaboration with Elizabeth White, a New Jersey cranberry farmer, to hybridize wild blueberries and bring to market the first fruits of this newly domesticated plant. Today, the highbush blueberry is the most widely cultivated of the blueberry species; it is grown extensively in Michigan, Georgia, Florida, Oregon, Washington, New Jersey, California, North Carolina, and many other states.