Vaccinium uliginosum (bog bilberry, bog blueberry,[2]northern bilberry or western blueberry)[3] is a Eurasian and North American flowering plant in the genus Vaccinium within the heath family.
Description
Vaccinium uliginosum is a small deciduous shrub growing to 10–75 centimetres (4–29+1⁄2 inches) tall, rarely 1 metre (3+1⁄2 feet) tall, with brown stems (unlike the green stems of the closely related bilberry). The leaves are oval, 4–30 millimetres (1⁄8–1+1⁄8 in) long and 2–15 mm (1⁄16–9⁄16 in) wide, blue-green with pale net-like veins, with a smooth margin and rounded apex.[4]
The flowers are pendulous, urn-shaped, pale pink, 4–6 mm (3⁄16–1⁄4 in) long, produced in mid spring. The fruit is a dark blue-black berry 5–8 mm (3⁄16–5⁄16 in) in diameter, with a white sweet flesh, ripe in late summer.[4]
Subspecies
Three subspecies have been described, but not all authorities distinguish them:[1][4]
Vaccinium uliginosum subsp. microphyllum Lange – Arctic plants
Vaccinium uliginosum subsp. occidentale (A.Gray) Hultén – North American plants
It grows on wet acidic soils on heathland, moorland, tundra, and in the understory of coniferous forests, from sea level in the Arctic, up to 3,400 m (11,200 ft) altitude in the south of the range.
V. uliginosum can survive long, severe climatic oscillations.[8][9]
Uses
The berries can be eaten raw or cooked, used to make jelly or pies, or dried to make pemmican.[10]
^USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Vaccinium uliginosum". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
Bilberries on branches
Close-up of bilberries in Eastern Siberia
Bog bilberry liquor (left) produced in North Korea
