Cross-examined. Q. You are skilled in berries? A. I should not know the atropa-belladonna if I saw them as the man had offered them—they are stripped off the small leaf, which is something of the acorn cut—he was a harmless, inoffensive man—there is no distinction between the bilberry and the wortle-berry—he calls them hoccle-berries—there are no such things as nettle-berries. Ozawa Y, Kawashima M, Inoue S, et al. Bilberry extract supplementation for preventing eye fatigue in video display terminal workers. J Nutr Health Aging. 2015;19(5):548-54. doi:10.1007/s12603-014-0573-6 One review of low-quality clinical research concluded there was no evidence that consuming bilberries improves night vision. [8] Bilberries have been used in a variety of folklore and traditional medicine, but there are no proven health benefits or anti-disease effects from consuming them. [9] Diseases [ edit ] Chan SW, Chu TTW, Choi SW, Benzie IFF, Tomlinson B. Impact of short-term bilberry supplementation on glycemic control, cardiovascular disease risk factors, and antioxidant status in Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes [published correction appears in Phytother Res. 2022 Apr;36(4):1836]. Phytother Res. 2021;35(6):3236-3245. doi:10.1002/ptr.7038 A set of species very obviously part of the rose family are the wild roses in the genus Rosa. All species produce rose-hips, which are the fruits. Rosehips contain hairy seeds in the centre, surrounded by (normally red) flesh that is quite acid to the taste. Rosehips can be consumed raw. Simply remove the hairy seeds, which can be an irritant to the throat, from the centre of each hip, maybe rinsing them a little afterwards. The pulpy flesh is then ready to consume.

Vaccinium myrtillus is a Holarctic species native to continental Northern Europe, the British Isles, north and central Asia, Japan, Greenland, Iceland, Western Canada, and the Western United States. It occurs in the acidic soils of heaths, boggy barrens, degraded meadows, open forests and parklands, slopes, and moraines. [9] [10] Uses [ edit ] The flowers are borne singly in leaf axils on 5⁄ 64– 1⁄ 8in) long pedicels. The corolla is pink and shaped like an urn. The leaves are finely toothed and prominently veined on the lower surface. Along with the likes of cranberries, blueberries and lingonberries, winberries / wimberries belong to the botanical genus Vaccinium. This is part of the Heath or Ericaceous family of plants (Ericaceae). Method – Take off any stalks left on the whortleberries and put in an 8″ pie dish. Sprinkle with the sugar to taste and add a small amount of apple juice and the pinch of cinnamon. Sift the flower into a bowl, cube the margarine and rub together until of a ‘breadcrumb’ texture. Add the water and make into a smooth ball. Place in a plastic bag and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Take out, roll out pastry on a floured surface to a size just a bit larger than the pie dish. Place the lid over the dish, trim to size. Make a small hole in the centre of the crust. Brush with milk and sprinkle with caster sugar. Bake in a pre-heated oven for 35 m- 40 minutes at 425ºF/220C. When cooked serve with some proper Devonshire cream. Vaccinium myrtillus or European blueberry is a holarctic species of shrub with edible fruit of blue color, known by the common names bilberry, blaeberry, wimberry, and whortleberry. [2] It is more precisely called common bilberry or blue whortleberry to distinguish it from other Vaccinium relatives. Late summer and early autumn is the berry high season. Berries are easy to spot, often grow in quantity and are relatively easy to collect compared to, say, digging up roots and other underground storage organs. Edible berries generally require little processing yet most are also easily preserved as a jelly, jam or leather. Most of our native berries are overlooked or avoided by the majority of the population, even though much fruit from around the world is bought in supermarkets and enjoyed by many.Most of the shops of Germany do call them Myrtilli, but properly 〈◊〉: 〈◊〉 are the 〈◊〉 of the Myrtle tree, as the Apothecaries name them at this day. This plant hath no name for ought wee can learne, either among the Greekes or antient Latines; for whereas most doe take it to be Vitis Idaea, or the Corinth tree, which Pliny syrnameth 〈◊〉, it is vntrue; for Vitis Idaea is not on∣ly like to the common Vine, 〈◊〉 is also a kinde of Vine: and 〈◊〉, who hath made 〈◊〉 hereof doth call it, without an Epethete, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, simply, as a little after we wil declare; which with∣out doubt he would not haue done if he had found it to differ from the common Vine: For what things soeuer receiue a name of some plant, the same are expressed with some 〈◊〉 added to be known to differ from others; as Laurus Alexandrina, Vitis alba, Vitis nigra, Vitis syluestris, and such like.

Hein S, Whyte AR, Wood E, Rodriguez-Mateos A, Williams CM. Systematic review of the effects of blueberry on cognitive performance as we age. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2019;74(7):984-995. doi:10.1093/gerona/glz082And with this description the little shrub which the Apothecaries of Germany do call 〈◊〉 doth nothing at all agree, as it is very manifest; for it is low, scarce a cubit high, with a few short branches not growing to a cubit in length: it doth not bring forth clusters or bunches, nor yet fruit like vnto grapes, but berries like those of the Yew tree, not sweet, but somewhat 〈◊〉 and astrin∣gent; in which also there are many little white flat seeds: the leafe is not round, but more long than round, not like to that of the Vine, but of the Box tree. Moreouer, it is thought that this is not found in Italy, Greece, or in the lesser Asia, for that Matthiolus affirmeth the same to grow no where but in Germanie and Bohemia; so far is it from being called or accounted to be Vitis Idaea or Alexandrina.

The tartness of red currantes comes from the acidity of the fruit, which contain, amongst other acids, a significant amount of ascorbic acid (vitamin C), with a concentration of about 40mg/100g fruit. Another reason red currants are easily missed is that they tend to be hidden in the darker, damper parts of the woods, often found in association with alder, Alnus glutinosa. The red currant plant is a deciduous shrub, with the woody cane-like stems remaining dormant over the winter. As a native shrub, fraughans make perfect hedgerow plants, especially in acidic soil areas where not much else can thrive. Their dense structure creates a perfect habitat for birds, insects and small mammals; the flowers provide fodder for bees; and its fruit is food for wild birds.Vaccinia rubra, or red Wortle, is like the former in the manner of growing, but that the leaues are 〈◊〉 and harder, almost like the leaues of the Box tree, abiding greene all the Winter long: among which come forth small carnation floures, long and round, growing in clusters at the top of the branches: afterwhich succeed small berries, in shew and bignesse like the former, but that they are of an excellent red colour, and full of iuyce, of so orient and beautifull a purple to limne withall, that Indian Lacca is not to be compared thereunto, especially when this iuyce is prepared and dressed with Allom according to art, as my selfe haue proued by experience: the tast is rough and astringent: the root is of a wooddy substance. The Whortleberry is the Devon name given to the wild blueberries that grow on the Moors in Devon and the West Country. Bilberry, Blaeberry, Whortleberry, Whinberry, Windberry, Myrtle Berry, Vaccinium myrtillus". Wild Food UK . Retrieved 2020-07-31.

The fruit is a soft, bright red berry up to 6 millimeters in width. It has a tart flavor. [5] Uses [ edit ] Wildlife [ edit ] Chan SW, Tomlinson B. Effects of bilberry supplementation on metabolic and cardiovascular disease risk. Molecules. 2020;25(7):1653. doi:10.3390/molecules25071653 Khoo HE, Azlan A, Tang ST, Lim SM. Anthocyanidins and anthocyanins: colored pigments as food, pharmaceutical ingredients, and the potential health benefits. Food Nutr Res. 2017;61(1):1361779. doi:10.1080/16546628.2017.1361779There are many other nutrients in rosehips too. One of my old mentors, Professor Gordon Hillman wrote “In addition to the vitamin C, rosehips contain an impressive array of other nutrients, particularly pro-vitamin A, vitamins of the B group, vitamins P, K and E.” Rose-hip jelly can be made and there is even a Swedish recipe for rosehip soup. Cherry Plum