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Plant · P-440
Bilberry
Vaccinium myrtillus
Bilberry is a low, suckering shrub of acid heaths and cool mountain woodland, spreading by rhizome into a knee-high mat. Its small dark berries are eaten raw, cooked, dried, or turned into jam and a leaf tea, though grouse, bears, foxes and squirrels usually get to them first. It needs acid, lime-free ground and goes chlorotic the moment lime turns up nearby - soil chemistry decides whether it grows here far more than sun or water do.
Record at a glance
Growing profile
- Sun
- Full Sun · Partial Sun
- USDA zone
- USDA 3–7
- Soil
- Sand · Loam
- Moisture
- Well-Drained · Moist
Vertical layer
Groundcover- Soil pH
- 4.5–6
- Plant type
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 6–8 in
- Mature spread
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The deeper layer