Bilberry
the name given to one or two species of vaccinium, a genus of plants belonging to the order vacciniaceæ (cranberries). It is especially used of the vaccinium myrtillus, called also the whortleberry. It has waxy flowers, greenish with a red tinge, and black berries very pleasant to the taste. It grows in woods and healthy places. The great bilberry or bog whortleberry is an allied species. It grows in mountain bogs. It is also called the bleaberry or blaeberry. The bilberry, properly so called, is eaten in the places where it grows. It is made into jellies and tarts.
It is astringent, and may be used in diarrhœa and dysentery. The fruit of • BILBILIS the V. uliginosum is acid, and produces giddiness and headache when eaten in too large quantity.