Vaccinium myrtillus
Vaccinium myrtillus is a low-growing Eurasian shrub in the heath family, Ericaceae. Its edible dark-blue berries are commonly called bilberries.
Ericaceae: Ericaceae is a family of flowering plants that includes heaths, heathers, cranberries, and blueberries. Bilberry belongs to this family, whose acid-soil adaptations are widespread.
Rhizome: A rhizome is a horizontal underground stem that can produce roots and new shoots. Bilberry spreads locally through underground stems as well as by seed.
Bilberry jam: Bilberry jam is a fruit preserve made by cooking bilberries with sugar, sometimes with added water or other ingredients. Cooking preserves the wild fruit for eating beyond its short harvest season.
Blaeberry: Blaeberry is a regional name for the bilberry, especially in Scotland and northern England. The name is common in parts of the British Isles where the plant grows wild.
Vaccinium uliginosum: Vaccinium uliginosum, the bog bilberry, is a circumboreal shrub with edible blue berries and a pale interior. It resembles bilberry but often occupies wetter habitats and has different berry flesh.
Vaccinium: Vaccinium is a genus of shrubs and small trees that includes bilberries, blueberries, cranberries, and lingonberries. Bilberry is one Eurasian species within this diverse berry-bearing genus.
Pollination: Pollination is the transfer of pollen to a flower's receptive surface, enabling fertilization and seed formation. Insects transfer pollen among bilberry flowers before berries develop.
Bilberry pie: Bilberry pie is a baked dessert filled primarily with bilberries. The berries' tart flavor and dark juice make them a traditional pie filling.
Whortleberry: Whortleberry is a regional common name used for bilberry and some related Vaccinium species. This name reflects the variety of local terms applied to the same wild berry.
Vaccinium vitis-idaea: Vaccinium vitis-idaea, the lingonberry, is an evergreen Eurasian shrub bearing red edible berries. Lingonberry shares northern habitats with bilberry but its fruit is red and tart.