A small deciduous shrub (Vaccinium myrtillus), native to acid soils in Europe and N Asia, especially on high ground where it may form bilberry moors; leaves 13 cm/0·41·2 in, oval, toothed; 12 flowers in leaf axils, drooping, 46 mm/?¼ in, globose, greenish-white; berry c.8 mm/½ in, black with bluish-white bloom, sweet, edible. Alternative names are blaeberry, whortleberry, and (in the USA) huckleberry. (Family: Ericaceae).
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Bilberry in flower |
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Vaccinium myrtillus L. The word bilberry is also sometimes used in the common names of other species of the genus, including Vaccinium uliginosum L. (bog bilberry, bog blueberry, bog whortleberry, bog huckleberry, northern bilberry), Vaccinium caespitosum Michx. (dwarf bilberry), Vaccinium deliciosum Piper (Cascade bilberry), Vaccinium membranaceum (mountain bilberry, black mountain huckleberry, black huckleberry, twin-leaved huckleberry), and Vaccinium ovalifolium (oval-leafed blueberry, oval-leaved bilberry, mountain blueberry, high-bush blueberry). Bilberries are rarely cultivated but fruits are sometimes collected from wild plants growing on publicly accessible lands, notably in Fennoscandia, Ireland and Poland. Medicinal UsesBilberry is often said to improve night vision, and the story is told of RAF pilots in World War II using bilberry for that purpose. |
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