VACCINIUM, in botany, a genus of the ostandria monogynia class. The calix is above the fruit; the corolla consists of one petal; the filaments are inserted into the receptacle; and the berry has four cells, containing many seeds. There are twelve species, five of them natives of Britain, viz. the myrtillus, or black whortleberries or bilberries; the uliginosum, or great bilberry-bush; the cantabricum, or Irish whorts; the vitis idea, or red whorts; and the oxycoccus, or cranberries.