I’ve been wanting to pick up the European Blueberry variety for some time now but can never seem to find a seller. It goes by a few other names depending on the region, such as Whortleberry, Blaeberry, and Whimberry. The species most commonly referred to is Vaccinium Myrtillus.
Some differences between Bilberries and the common blueberry:
flesh is dark red or purple vs mostly white/translucent flesh of American berries
the fruits are grown solitary, as opposed to growing in bunches
ripened fruit has a circular outline opposite the stalk, versus the star-pattern seen on American blueberries
Does anyone know where I can buy Bilberry plants in the U.S.? I can only seem to find seed sellers online.
i too have been looking for a source for years. supposedly grows wild here but ive yet to find any. a friend of mine gave me a few sprouts off his mothers wild highbush she had growing in her yard in N.H. it produced some berries last summer. they we almost black and dark flesh inside. not very big berry and im sure its not a bilberry as these get 5ft tall but interesting for a blueberry .ive tried sprouting bilberry seed outdoors over wintered with no luck.
There is one other place I would look if I wanted something ultra rare. Bear berries, lingonberries, huckleberry are all ultra rare that they sell. Mr. Hartman used to swap me plants for plants 15+ years ago. I imagine these are his kids or cousins running his business now. He sold plums called mini sweets and others I swapped for some blackberries. Their prices are good and their plants are good. Shop Wholesale - Hartmann's Plant Company | Wholesale Store
in the higher elevations in Maine like mt. katahdin in baxter state park and cadillac mt. in Acadia national park ive found small wild blueberries growing amongst crow berry and wild lingonberry in pockets in the rocks. the plants were just 6in. they had shiny dark leaves and black or dark purple fruit. about the size of a pea. they looked different than the wild blueberries that grow all over the state. i often wondered if these were a different blueberry or a dwarfed bilberry. the pulp of the fruit is purple as well unlike a blueberry. i wanted to pull one to bring home but i figured these plants had struggled so much to survive and fruit there, i didnt have the heart to take one. i also grow what i think is a blueberry a friend of ours’ mother gave us a root cutting of from her very old 6ft tall bushes in central N.H. they were growing on the property when they bought it 50 yrs ago. the fruit is small. little bigger than a pea but a very heavy producer of black berries. pulp is dark purple as well. mine is slow growing and only a few ft high in 3 yrs but has produced a handful of fruit. it has a sweet / rich taste almost like a honeyberry. im wondeing if this is a cross between a wild highbush and a bilberry. the fruit fits the bilberry description. looking forward to getting a bigger harvest from this one.
Those diverse genetics in the plants you are discussing are likely a Oberhausen of antioxidants but they don’t fit in the plans of modern Agriculture. Like much of what grow rhe genetic diversity is important.
Vaccinium myrtillus is native in the following U.S. locations:
NORTHWESTERN U.S.A.: United States [Colorado (w.), Idaho, Montana (w.), Oregon (n.), Washington (e.), Wyoming (w.)]
SOUTH-CENTRAL U.S.A.: United States [New Mexico]
SOUTHWESTERN U.S.A.: United States [Arizona (n.), Nevada, Utah (e.)]
we have wild bilberry here in Maine. maybe a different type than the western one. it grows in wet areas in partial shade and doesnt set much fruit. the fruit you do get is dark purple all the way through and stains. very sweet tasting but you are lucky to get more than a doz. fruit from 1 bush. see it alot along the shores of swampy bog type lakes here.
