Photo ©
Carl Farmer |
Common on moorland and acid ground, including woods with open canopy. Found at all elevations. Flower diameter c 4-6 mm, fruit c 6-9 mm, leaves c 1-3 cm long. Skye ID: Stems angled and green. Leaves notably bright green as in pic, slightly toothed, not leathery. Plant hairless. Even without flowers and fruit this (if leaves look like these pics) distinguishes it from any other member of the heather family or any other moorland or mountain shrub. Other features: Flowers solitary or in pairs, pinkish, globular with tiny relfexed lobes at mouth. Fruit a black berry. Hybridises with Cowberry; the hybrid has darker leaves and is intermediate in other ways. Bilberry is deciduous; other Skye Vaccinium species, including the hybrid, are evergreen. |
