Bilberry

Common Name: Bilberry

Latin Name: Vaccinium myrtillus

Family: Ericaceae

There are 450 species of Vaccinium worldwide, many of these are found growing in Malaysia and 6 species are native to the UK. The bilberry, which is also known as the whortleberry, blaeberry, whinberry or wimberry has edible fruits and is allegedly good for nightvision. This plant grows to 50cm tall (sometimes more), it has acutely angled stems, pinkish-red flowers, bluish-black fruits and it looses its leaves in the winter. In the UK it is commonly found on heathland, moorland or woodland habitats with acidic soils. It is a common plant but is absent from much of central and eastern England.

In the Yorkshire Dales National Park bilberry is commonly seen on moorland and heathland which occupies the highground throughout the Park, for example on Whernside. North Yorkshire is said to have a traditional bilberry dessert, known the 'mucky- mouth' pie, in which bilberries are baked in a Yorkshire pudding.