Everything about Bilberry totally explained
Bilberry is a name given to several species of low-growing
shrubs in the
genus Vaccinium (family
Ericaceae) that bears
fruits. The species most often referred to is
Vaccinium myrtillus L., also known as European blueberry, blaeberry, whortleberry, whinberry (or winberry), myrtle blueberry, fraughan, and probably other names regionally. They were called black-hearts in 19th century southern England, according to
Thomas Hardy's 1878 novel,
The Return of the Native, (pg. 311,
Oxford World's Classics edition).
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).
Wild and cultivated harvesting
Bilberries are found in damp,
acidic
soils throughout the
temperate and
subarctic regions of the world. They are closely related to
North American wild and cultivated
blueberries and
huckleberries in the genus
Vaccinium. The easiest way to distinguish the bilberry is that it produces single or pairs of berries on the bush instead of clusters like the blueberry. Another way to distinguish them is that while blueberry fruit pulp is light green, bilberry is red or purple, sometimes staining the fingers and lips of consumers eating the raw fruit.
Bilberries are seldom cultivated but fruits are sometimes collected from wild plants growing on publicly accessible lands, notably in
Fennoscandia,
Scotland,
Ireland and
Poland. Note that in Fennoscandia, it's an
everyman's right to collect bilberries, irrespective of land ownership, with the exception of private gardens. Bilberries can be picked by a berry-picking rake like
lingonberries, but are more susceptible to damage.
In Ireland, the fruit is known as
fraughan, from the
Irish fraochán, and is traditionally gathered on the last Sunday in July, known as
Fraughan Sunday.
Bilberries were also collected at
Lughnassadh in August, the first traditional harvest festival of the year, as celebrated by Gaelic people. The crop of bilberries was said to indicate how well the rest of the crops would fare in their harvests later in the year.
The fruits can be eaten fresh, but are more usually made into
jams,
fools,
juices or
pies. In
France they're used as a base for
liqueurs and are a popular flavoring for
sorbets and other desserts. In
Brittany, they're often used as a flavoring for
crêpes, and in the
Vosges and the
Massif Central bilberry tart (
tarte aux myrtilles) is a traditional dessert.
Bilberry is used as a food plant by the
larvae of some
Lepidoptera species - see
list of Lepidoptera that feed on Vaccinium.
Possible medicinal uses
Often associated with improvement of
night vision, bilberries are mentioned in a popular story of
World War II RAF pilots consuming bilberry jam to sharpen vision for night missions. However, a recent study by the
U.S. Navy found no such effect and origins of the RAF story can't be found.
Laboratory studies have provided preliminary evidence that bilberry consumption may inhibit or reverse eye disorders such as
macular degeneration, but this therapeutic use remains unproven in humans.
As a deep blue fruit, bilberries contain dense levels of
anthocyanin pigments linked experimentally to lowered risk for several diseases, such as those of the
heart and
cardiovascular system,
eyes and
cancer.
In
folk medicine, bilberry leaves were used to treat
gastrointestinal ailments, applied topically, or made into infusions. Such effects have not been scientifically proven.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Bilberry'.
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