''Vaccinium myrtillus'' or European blueberry is a
holarctic
The Holarctic realm is a biogeographic realm that comprises the majority of habitats found throughout the continents in the Northern Hemisphere. It corresponds to the floristic Boreal Kingdom. It includes both the Nearctic zoogeographical region ...
species of
shrub
A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...
with edible fruit of blue color, known by the common names
bilberry
Bilberries (), or sometimes European blueberries, are a primarily Eurasian species of low-growing shrubs in the genus ''Vaccinium'' (family Ericaceae), bearing edible, dark blue berries. The species most often referred to is ''Vaccinium myrtillus ...
, blaeberry, wimberry, and whortleberry.
It is more precisely called common bilberry or blue whortleberry to distinguish it from other ''
Vaccinium'' relatives.
Description
''Vaccinium myrtillus'' is a small deciduous shrub that grows tall. It has light green leaves that turn red in autumn and are simple and alternate in arrangement.
Leaves are long and ovate to lanceolate or broadly elliptic in shape.
Common names
Regional names include blaeberry (Scotland), urts or hurts (Cornwall and Devon), hurtleberry,
[ citing Wiersema, J. H. & B. León (1999), ''World economic plants: a standard reference'', and Huxley, A., ed. (1992), ''The new Royal Horticultural Society dictionary of gardening''] myrtleberry, wimberry, whinberry, winberry,
[Henley, Jon]
Bilberries: the true taste of northern England
The Guardian, Monday 9 June 2008 and fraughan.
Distribution and habitat
''Vaccinium myrtillus'' is a
Holarctic
The Holarctic realm is a biogeographic realm that comprises the majority of habitats found throughout the continents in the Northern Hemisphere. It corresponds to the floristic Boreal Kingdom. It includes both the Nearctic zoogeographical region ...
species native to continental Northern Europe, the
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...
, northern Asia, Japan,
Greenland
Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...
,
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
, western Canada, and the
Western United States
The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...
. It occurs in the acidic soils of
heaths, boggy
barrens, degraded meadows, open forests and parklands, slopes, and
moraine
A moraine is any accumulation of unconsolidated debris (regolith and rock), sometimes referred to as glacial till, that occurs in both currently and formerly glaciated regions, and that has been previously carried along by a glacier or ice shee ...
s. Bilberry and the related ''
V. uliginosum'' appear to be unaffected by
climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
.
Uses
The fruits will stain hands, teeth and tongue deep blue or purple while eating and so it was traditionally used as a
dye
A dye is a colored substance that chemically bonds to the substrate to which it is being applied. This distinguishes dyes from pigments which do not chemically bind to the material they color. Dye is generally applied in an aqueous solution an ...
for food and clothes in Britain.
Fruit
''Vaccinium myrtillus'' has been used for centuries in
traditional medicine
Traditional medicine (also known as indigenous medicine or folk medicine) comprises medical aspects of traditional knowledge that developed over generations within the folk beliefs of various societies, including indigenous peoples, before the ...
, particularly in traditional
Austrian
Austrian may refer to:
* Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent
** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law
* Austrian German dialect
* Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...
medicine as a tea or liqueur in attempts to treat various disorders.
Bilberry
dietary supplement
A dietary supplement is a manufactured product intended to supplement one's diet by taking a pill, capsule, tablet, powder, or liquid. A supplement can provide nutrients either extracted from food sources or that are synthetic in order ...
s are marketed in the United States, although there is little evidence these products have any effect on health or diseases.
In cooking, the bilberry fruit is commonly used for pies, tarts and flans, cakes, jams,
muffin
A muffin is an individually portioned baked product, however the term can refer to one of two distinct items: a part-raised flatbread (like a crumpet) that is baked and then cooked on a griddle (typically unsweetened), or an (often sweetened) ...
s, cookies, sauces,
syrups, juices, and candies.
Leaves
In traditional medicine, bilberry leaves were used mainly for treating skin disorders.
Consuming the leaves may be unsafe.
Harvesting
Although bilberries are in high demand by consumers in northern Europe, the berries are harvested in the wild without any cultivation. Some authors state that opportunities exist to improve the crop if cultivated using common agricultural practices.
Chemistry
Bilberry and the related ''
V. uliginosum'' both produce
lignin
Lignin is a class of complex organic polymers that form key structural materials in the support tissues of most plants. Lignins are particularly important in the formation of cell walls, especially in wood and bark, because they lend rigidity ...
s, in part because they are used as
defensive chemicals.
Although many plants change their lignin production – usually to increase it – to handle the stresses of
climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
, lignin levels of both ''Vaccinium'' species appear to be unaffected.
''V. myrtillus'' contains a high concentration of
triterpenes which remain under laboratory research for their possible biological effects.
See also
*
Blaeberry River
The Blaeberry River is a tributary of the Columbia River in the Columbia Country of British Columbia, Canada, rising in the Canadian Rockies on the south side of Howse Pass and joining the Columbia midway between the town of Golden, at the con ...
* ''
Mahonia aquifolium
''Mahonia aquifolium'', the Oregon grape or holly-leaved barberry, is a species of flowering plant in the family Berberidaceae, native to western North America. It is an evergreen shrub growing tall and wide, with pinnate leaves consisting of sp ...
'' (Oregon grape)
* ''
Myrtus
''Myrtus'' (commonly called myrtle) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Myrtaceae. It was first described by Swedish botanist Linnaeus in 1753.
Over 600 names have been proposed in the genus, but nearly all have either been moved ...
''
References
External links
United States Department of Agriculture plants profile- ''Vaccinium myrtillus''
{{Authority control
myrtillus
Berries
Flora of Europe
Flora of Asia
Flora of temperate Asia
Flora of Western Canada
Flora of the Western United States
Flora of Alaska
Flora of Greenland
Flora of Iceland
Plants described in 1753
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus
Medicinal plants
Subshrubs
Flora without expected TNC conservation status