Bog bilberry facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Bog bilberry |
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| Leaves and fruit | |
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| Genus: |
Vaccinium
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| Species: |
uliginosum
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The bog bilberry (also called bog blueberry or northern bilberry) is a cool plant found in many parts of the world. Its scientific name is Vaccinium uliginosum. It belongs to the same plant family as heather. You can find these plants in both Europe and Asia, and also in North America.
Where Bog Bilberries Grow
Bog bilberries love cool places. They grow in the northern parts of the world, like the Arctic. You can also find them high up in mountains. These mountains include the Pyrenees and Alps in Europe. They also grow in the Caucasus mountains. In Asia, they are found in Mongolia, northern China, Korea, and central Japan. In North America, they grow in the Sierra Nevada in California and the Rocky Mountains in Utah.
These plants like wet, acidic soil. They often grow in open areas like heathlands, moorlands, and tundra. You can also spot them under conifer trees in forests. They grow from sea level in the Arctic to very high places, like 3,400 meters (about 11,150 feet) in southern areas.
What Bog Bilberries Look Like
The bog bilberry is a small shrub that loses its leaves in winter. It usually grows about 10 to 75 centimeters (4 to 30 inches) tall. Sometimes, it can reach 1 meter (about 3 feet) tall. Its stems are brown. This is different from the green stems of its close relative, the bilberry.
The leaves are shaped like ovals. They are about 4 to 30 millimeters (0.15 to 1.2 inches) long. They are also 2 to 15 millimeters (0.08 to 0.6 inches) wide. The leaves are blue-green with pale veins that look like a net. Their edges are smooth, and their tips are rounded.
The flowers hang downwards. They look like small urns and are pale pink. Each flower is about 4 to 6 millimeters (0.15 to 0.24 inches) long. They bloom in the middle of spring.
The fruit is a dark blue-black berry. It is about 5 to 8 millimeters (0.2 to 0.3 inches) across. The inside of the berry is white. These berries are safe to eat and taste sweet when they are ripe. They are ready to pick in late summer.
Eating Bog Bilberries
You can eat bog bilberries in many ways. They are delicious raw, right off the bush. You can also cook them. People use them to make tasty jelly or pies. Sometimes, they are dried and used to make pemmican, a traditional food. In Korea, bog bilberries are used to make a special infused liquor called Deuljjuk-sul.
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Deuljjuk-sul (bog bilberry liquor) and jindallae-sul (Korean rhododendron liquor) produced in North Korea
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Blueberries in Eastern Siberia
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Blueberries on the branches of a bush
See also
In Spanish: Vaccinium uliginosum para niños
