Bilberry

Bilberry - Vaccinium myrtillus

Description

Hairless creeping plant to 60 cm, with several erect stems. Twigs three angled, green. Leaves oval, bright green, toothed and flat. Flowers pale green tinged with pink, lantern shaped 4 to 6 mm, usually solitary. Berry globose, bluish black.

Designation

Indicator Species - Leicestershire, Leicester & Rutland Local Nature Recovery Strategy.

Identification difficulty
Habitat

Heath and woodland.

When to see it

April to June.

Life History

Deciduous shrub.

UK Status

Widespread and quite common in most of Britain except in parts of central and eastern England.

VC55 Status

Not common in Leicestershire & Rutland. In Leicestershire it is almost exclusively confined to the Charnwood forest area. In the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire it was found in 20 of the 617 tetrads.

Leicestershire & Rutland Map

MAP KEY:

Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2025+ | 2020-2024 | pre-2020

UK Map

Additional images

All NatureSpot records

Photo of the association

Stigmella myrtillella

The larva of the moth Stigmella myrtillella mines the leaves of Bilberry creating a contorted gallery leading to small blotch. The larva is amber yellow, head brown.