BILBERRY - How European Blueberries are Different than American Blueberries - Weird Fruit Explorer

[@WeirdExplorer]

which one sounds better to you: bilberry or blueberry?

[@davidsullivan8788]

Blueberry

[@WhoDidIKill]

Definitely Blueberry

[@afeathereddinosaur]

Bilberry

[@youtube.commentator]

The 'murican one of course

[@TralalaptaTurtleMan]

Definitely blueberry

[@newperspective5918]

Dont worry about finding billberries, they grow in something like 15-20% of Swedens forest area. Probably similar in Finland. You find them in almost all forest given a 10 min walk.

[@LeXar71]

Actually they cover roughly 17% of the total area of Sweden! Which is a bit crazy to think about...

[@timoijas5316]

Yep they grow everywhere here too, as well as lingon berries. Also, the taste is different depending on the time of the year you pick them. Bilberries can be pretty sweet also if you pick them late summer/early fall.

[@timnordstrom7383]

​​​@@LeXar71 we can thank the midnight sun for that. Enabling photosynthesis 24/7 in the summer is the key behind the insane sugar production necessary for such berry amounts. My friend from Scotland calls my region (Norrland) the land of the berries lol.

[@sampletext9390]

All of those bilberries are the same species. The red leaves are just a discoloration (due to multiple reasons) and the black ones have a genetic mutation that causes them to lose their waxy coating (if you rub a "blue" bilberry it will turn black). Great vids Don't know if this was mentioned yet or not

[@LZmiljoona]

Ohh I have to try that! Where I am from, bilberries are called "blackberries" (Schwarzbeeren in German) - and I always wondered why.

[@ares395]

Wow, that's actually really cool fact. I love when there is a simple mutation (well, maybe not that simple) which you can actually see.

[@imsunnybaby]

yesss i was gonna point that out. ive had multiple different and random plants in the garden get the red coloring. my guess was frost/cold but dont really know

[@cyberash3000]

@@LZmiljoona in english blackberries are a different fruit

[@ld1844]

@@cyberash3000 I think it's regional how we call them in Germany. In my region they're called blueberry (Blaubeere) or sometimes Heidelbeere (don't know what the english translation would be).

[@MrGlennJohnsen]

We don't even consider the "blueberries" that are white inside for real blueberries where I live.

[@n0namesowhatblerp362]

Thank you!

[@sheep1ewe]

In Scandinavia (and the Nord) those who has a white inside is a third species called "Odon" in Sweden, they are closly related to both American blueberry and Bilberries, they are edible (however there is a missconseption in sweden that they are poisonous, wich i think may be because they for some reason has become confused with snakeberries/Herb of Paris(?) wich is a complete different type of plant but also with round blue berries of the same shape, however snakeberries are poisonous, snakeberries grow on a soft lillylike stem with a distinct crimson shape crown of green leaves, they usualy grow in the shadow in the scrubs around near lakeshores and not in the deepforest or bogs as the blueberry family "Odoon" wich grow on a small bluerry like plant are edible) but they does not hawe much taste and may hawe a slight bitter savory taste instead of the smooth sweet taste of the bilberrys (Nordic blueberries).

[@sesseljabs964]

same here! we call them blueberries but no one really likes them, we call bilberries something like "main blueberry" (horriffic translation sorry). american blueberries taste like water and dirt tbh.

[@Herra_K]

@@sesseljabs964 trueeee

[@shadowlibrarian400]

We just call them American blueberries.

[@ei96byod]

We call them "blåbär" (in Swedish) which translates to "blueberry". We call the large berry that you call blueberry "amerikanska blåbär", which means "american blueberry". Very confusing 🙂 I prefer the small one (bilberry), although the large one (blueberry) is good too. The large ones are usually a bit bland and boring in Sweden (because they are imported). The combination of bilberry and raspberry as a jam is called "drottningsylt" in Swedish (Queens jam), and is the best jam you could ever have hands down! 👍

[@WeirdExplorer]

Oh man.. that sounds like a killer combination

[@matejmatej3554]

We call them " brovnica" here in Slovenia and big one is called " ameriska brovnica" greetings from sLOVEnia east europe

[@marilynlawson8216]

@@matejmatej3554 Greetings to you in Slovenia from a Jamaican via Queens, New York!

[@gdn2705]

So they don't only grow in the UK great in apple crumble

[@astorvialaw4980]

There's also what's called King's jam, which is basically Queen's jam with strawberries!

[@lassemanninen4750]

I was in restaurant academy (Helsinki Finland) at 1980-1982. I was 17-19y. Back then they all were translated blueberry. I have read "bilberry" sometimes on this century. In finnish (european) blueberry is "Mustikka", and (american) blueberry was "Pensasmustikka", that in direct translation is "Bush-blueberry". Back then american variation was stil extremely rare here in Finland. And usually seen in movies and TV. First time that i have eaten american blueberry, i was thinking "this do not taste anything, this is fake berry".

[@KiMoKo9787]

It seems true with some species of plants for sure, watermelon is a big one here, but the imported ones taste better than our American ones lol

[@Solo99.]

Im from Sweden and yeah I thought the same about the first time trying American version

[@tbjtbj4786]

@@KiMoKo9787 what variety of watermelon? There's a huge difference in them. I grew up when congo and rattlesnake were the ones mostly planted. They were big but very good ones. The new small seedless and sangria that the most common now I don't like at all. I grow a few of the old kind for the family. And some of the old yellow ones are pretty good too.

[@KiMoKo9787]

@@tbjtbj4786 we mostly have big ones, 15ish lbs with dark green stripes, pale red insides that tastes like water. They used to be more red and juicy so maybe they're picking too early? I'm unsure of the exact type here in south Florida but ours are usually imported from Georgia

[@tbjtbj4786]

@@KiMoKo9787 seed or seed less? More like jubilee or sangria. There in tge 15 lbs range. Light red and water tasting sounds like they were not ripe. Oh if you think 15 lbs are big. Try a congo if you find one up to about 75 lbs around 3 feet long. They are seedy but really sweet.

[@MrMorrberg]

If you want something really rare, you could look for a hybrid between lingonberry and bilberry. Super rare but they do exist naturally in the wild. There is also a version of bilberry without the blue colour (Vaccinium f. leucocarpum) also super rare.

[@migara1]

I'm from Romania, and I always wondered why supermarket blueberries are so different to the blueberries I forage late summer. Myself I prefer the forest ones just because they're more complex in flavour. But I do like the supermarket ones too

[@lunkel8108]

The first few times I ate blueberries they were always freshly picked from a forest or hill here in germany. When I first bought ones from the store and they turned out to be way more watery and less flavorful I was a bit disappointed. I definitly prefer our native variety. Also, your tounge turning blue from eating them is an integral part of the experience!

[@erikjohnson9223]

Supermarket varieties tend to be native to North America and are in a different subgenus (fruit is in corymbs rather than singly borne, making them generally more productive). Western USA "huckleberries" are in the same subgenus as European bilberries, and Vaccinium uglinossum occurs in both places. (In the Eastern USA, "huckleberry" is a different genus, Gaylusacia baccata , which tastes a bit like our blueberries, but gets a gritty texture from its 10 much larger seeds.). Both highbush (Vaccinium corymbosum) and rabbiteye (V. ashei) blueberries have been heavily selected for larger fruit [which markets well here in the USA, where most people seem to be visual shoppers; and where domestication occurred and the bulk of blueberry breeding still occurs] over 20th century, though a few old highbush varieties (Rubel & Rancoccas) are still sold by nurseries and have smaller fruit that I consider generally better (more antioxidants--in North American blueberries, all the color is in the skin; and less likely to create soggy spots in your blueberry muffins). Lowbush blueberries are still usually harvested from the "wild" (the germplasm is wild, but the native plots are maintained/promoted by controlled burning to keep the blueberries dominant and trees suppressed), so they tend to be smaller and a bit more flavorful.

[@migara1]

@@erikjohnson9223 very interesting, thanks for the thorough reply

[@rachelclark6393]

One more thing to add - like most things American blueberries grown in your yard or picked from the wild are going to taste better than a grocery store blueberry by a long shot. I've never had a bilberry so I can't compare, but I'm sure they're equally good. I can't account for the difference between commercial blueberries and home grown/gathered blueberries, but it's definitely noticeable.

[@Narnendil]

@@rachelclark6393 Home grown American blueberries are definitely tastier than storebought ones, but in my opinion only by a little. I still prefer European blueberries waaaay more. But this is of course a personal preference. I like the tartness of the European blueberries. American bluberries taste bland and too sweet in my opnion.

[@Corsair721]

Its called Blåbær here in Norway, the generic and bland berries from the US as are also named blueberries, despite being white inside

[@shubaduc9486]

TheBackan norwegian squad

[@Corsair721]

@@shubaduc9486 Selvsagt!

[@shubaduc9486]

TheBackan lol

[@Brakvash]

*so I'm going to try the regular one first (tries the massive berries)* Scandinavian: You call those regular!? *these are bill berries (points to blueberries)* Scandinavian: *Oi mate you trying to start a fight?!* Source: I'm a swede and this was my reaction.

[@tktspeed1433]

As a finn, this is an opinion I can join forces on with a swede.

[@oakstrong1]

Where I lived there were some blueberries growing alongside bilberries. Everyone thought them to be inferior that they were not even picked by most. I've heard some of them call them as rubbish berries because they were so tasteless in comparison. To be sure, most tasted so mild and some had no flavour at all. The blueberries are easy to spot, because the plants are much taller. I agree that the best ones are the black and shiny ones, but the dusty blue ones are the most common type. In the height of the season the whole undergrowth is a blue with barriers; it is difficult to stop even when your buckets are full and your back is begging you to stand straight.

[@iforgotmyusername11]

The blueberries or bilberries were called rubbish berries?

[@subtitan7]

@@iforgotmyusername11 blueberries

[@oakstrong1]

@@iforgotmyusername11 Blueberries. I'm used to them now I cannot get bilberries but when I first bought blueberries I was disappointed with the lack of flavour. I didn't buy them again for several years because I didn't think they were worth the money.

[@duprasi8144]

My German parents refused to eat cultivated blueberries for a long time when they came into stores here, because they considered them 'fake' blueberries. Now American blueberries became the standard across Europe though.

[@gdn2705]

There not blue Berry's bill Berry's are something totally different

[@duprasi8144]

@@gdn2705 In Germany they are both called Blaubeeren or Heidelbeeren, few people now even know the difference

[@kattkatt744]

@@gdn2705 I'm not sure if you are joking or not, with the strange spelling, but I am going to assume you are not. What is called Bilberry in England is called Blaeberry in Scots, which is cognate with the scandinavian "Blåbær/blåbär", literally translating as blueberry. Most continental languages in Europe have a common name variant for Vaccinium myrtillus that translates into "blue berry" in English. In addition the European blueberry and the American blueberry are the same genus so they can be crossbreed with each other, so not that different when it comes down to the biology. Edit: mixed up of words

[@martinn.6082]

@@duprasi8144 I’m German and I use them interchangeably as well. Though now that I remember, my grandparents always refer to Heidelbeeren when they pick them in the forest, so I suppose those were Bilberries.

[@gdn2705]

@@kattkatt744ok no problem it's just where I live in county Durham close to the Moore's there's a lot of simaler looking shrebs with fruit we call billberries.

[@starrya5647]

Billberries! I've been waiting for this. As a child growing up in the UK we only ever had billberries that we picked in the hills. Then when I was a teenager the supermarkets started selling blueberries, but they were white inside! They also didn't turn the custard purple when you mixed a crumble of them with it 😆 Edit: Me and my dad used to have competitions for who could find the biggest ones... we called them prize guys

[@pattheplanter]

Mmmmm, bilberry crumble.

[@Call-me-Al]

@@pattheplanter bilberry crumble pie with vanilla sauce is one of my earliest childhood memories

[@HMan2828]

So, Jared, I can't be the first one to think about how mushrooms are actually fruits (fungi fruits)... When will you do a mushrooms series?

[@overruler9928]

cubensis episode boutta go crazy

[@Luxito_DeWarlock]

That’s be interesting. I’d like to see him review some Chicken of the woods, some Morrel mushrooms, and if he’s lucky some Black Truffle mushrooms 😋

[@mandab.3180]

pretty sure he said previously he didn't care much for mushrooms so he wouldn't..

[@HMan2828]

@@mandab.3180 Bah that's just because he hasn't tried enough... Not a fan of typical grocery store mushrooms either (buttons, portobello, shiitake), but wild mushrooms like chicken of the woods, morelles, oyster mushrooms, inkcaps, etc, are another deal entirely! And there are so many!

[@mandab.3180]

@@HMan2828 you don't have to convince me 😂 but yea i can understand, if you haven't had good mushrooms you don't know what you're missing.

[@PowerTom286]

Hi Jared. That reminds me of my childhood when we went just into the woods behind my parents' house to eat as much as we could of bilberries and the very sour lingonberries, that must have an 11 on your scale, Hahaha. Much more sour than cranberries. After the feeding frenzi we mostly came home with purple blueish spots on hands and clothes, and a blackish purple tongue. I grew up south of Nürnberg/Mittelfranken in northern bavaria, and they grew everywhere. I agree they are better than the cultivated american blueberries, but not available on the market for a reasonable price. I haven't seen them for sale for maybe 30 years.

[@davecphotographyuk]

Im so glad you introduced me to the rake, i can't tell you how tedious its is collection individualy sparsely placed berries, i spent ages yesterday picking individual fruits.

[@trygveevensen171]

The big blueberries are often referred to as american blueberries while the small ones you forage are just blueberries or forest blueberries. They love newly cut forest, but as the trees grow there'll be less berries on the plants. Sun is crucial. It's strange seeing someone so fascinated with something so common.

[@flamencoguy3000]

There are low bush and high bush blueberries. The ones harvested using a comb device are wild low bush types that grow in colder climates..

[@carbonbeaker409]

Alaskan wild and Maine wild are definitely more similar to billberries. I believe AK blueberries are indeed a type of billberries, and I would definitely take them over blueberries any day! Grew up with AK wild blueberries and that tart sweetness.

[@plants_before_people5329]

Bilberries grow in pretty much every forest in the Netherlands. Many people go to the forest to pick them

[@properboy9979]

Thank you for sharing your adventurous discoveries. I enjoyed the content. Cheers, Michael

[@rredd7777]

I grew up eating wild blueberries, here in Pennsylvania. The wild ones look more like the bilberries. The I never really liked the cultivated blueberries; sure, they're a lot bigger, but they have way less flavor. We'd pick two different types of blueberries: lowbush blueberries, which look like those wild bilberry plants, and highbush blueberries. The highbush are easier to pick; you don't have to stoop over since the bushes are usually as tall or taller than you, and, being bigger, one bush would have a lot more berries. Picking the highbush berries is very peaceful and almost zen-like, if you can avoid being eaten alive by bugs.

[@practicallymedieval2027]

I buy the bags of wild frozen blueberries and I was wondering how they compare to these two. I'd love to see a video of that.

[@katiaaoox]

We’ve been picking bilberries our whole life not knowing they were a different fruit than blueberries haha thanks for the info!

[@Skinbodycarestyle]

Where are you from?

[@lemagreengreen]

Yep, bilberry. We call it blaeberry in Scotland. They make good jam and pie :) I believe they require acidic soil or have some sort of relationship with pine trees since they grow best in places with pine trees nearby, also noticed ferns in the same sort of habitat. In the right places they grow very well though.

[@alejandrorobles6865]

You should try garambullo, it looks like a blueberry but it actually comes from a cactus called Myrtilocactus (Blueberry cactus). It ferments really quick tough so its hard to get it fresh

[@sentientcheese1620]

here in Sweden we just call them blueberries I often go out during the summer and pick a few to make blueberry pie. I've only ever tasted the imported blueberries once and have never liked them because the blueberries that I had been eating up to then were very different.

[@marialiyubman]

Jared cutting a little berry in half. Are you on a diet? 😂

[@MrHandKman]

I pick blåbær ( bilberries) every year. I've begun juicing them also. We usually add sugar since they aren't always so sweet. With sugar and milk as a simple desert. Or bake them in cakes.

[@CasaFuenteOrange]

You’re such a nice guy, you can really tell thru the videos. I appreciate your hunger and passion for fruit and sharing it with others . I hope one day I’m able to travel the world with my passion

[@ansve007]

I like how you explain the difference in taste between the berries! I grew up eating the blueberries here in Sweden and in my opinion, since the American blueberry is less tart and also less familiar to me, it has almost a sort of perfumy, too sweet taste. No shade, but it can taste kinda like “fake” blueberries, like candy 😂 The Swedish blueberries is more refreshing and the flavor is less in your face. But that’s just me! Love the video, keep it up!

[@kurikuri1619]

This is legit the first time I have heard the word bilberry and had to google it :D we just translate these bilberries or mustikka in Finnish as blueberries. I have tried those big blueberries/bush blueberries (pensas mustikka) that they sell in supermarket once and they tasted like mild grapes and pear to me so I personally prefer the bilberries/mustikka more. Also when someone talks about blueberries I connect the word to the taste of mustikka or in this case bilberry, i think.

[@Koniiiik]

From the point of view of a brewer who likes to brew beverages with different fruits and berries, in my experience, the “american” blueberries contain mostly sugar (at least as far as the soluble compounds go) - adding them to a brew makes a fairly small difference in color, or flavor, but they are really quite sweet, because of a lot of sugar which is simply consumed by the yeast. Bilberries, on the other hand, even a rather small amount gives your beverage a lot of color, flavor, and aroma. Seems quite consistent to me with containing a lower concentration of sugar, and a lot more coloring and flavoring compounds. Also, seeing the intro to this video, the amazement at the abundance of them is just adorable. In Slovakia, you mostly see bilberries in national parks, and they are mostly a thing in more mountainous parts of the country, usually being picked clean by tourists in any area that gets any foot traffic to speak of, but they are still relatively common to anyone who likes to hike. However, since moving to Sweden, I've seen copious amounts of them even in fairly small parks in a major coastal city; they are just everywhere, and not nearly enough people care about picking them.

[@teasdaye]

The Finnish word mustikka seems to come from the word musta, meaning black, so you could kind of imagine us basically calling them "blackberries". The -kka suffix doesn't mean berry, but you get the idea. The darker waxless variety is (among other names) appropriately called pikimustikka, with pikimusta meaning pitch black.

[@xlmao]

If you ever come to Portugal check this wierd endemic fruit Corema album, its like a blueberry but white

[@janakracmarova7843]

In some countries people are not allowed to pick up bilberries with those metal picking combs. For example in Czech republic (my country) it's banned. You can only pick up bilberries by hands. It is because those metal things pick up lots of berries and also many leaves, so plant will die without leaves and it is also unfair because there are no berries left for other people. But mainly it will kill bilberry plants. So everybody please, pick up forest berries and other fruits and mushrooms just by hands, be kind to those plants and leave some for other people.

[@halinallet652]

We call them "mustikka" here in Finland. And "musta" is color black. So I think they are blackberries for us. Regular blackberry is called "karhunvadelma". "karhu" is bear and "vadelma" is rasberry. So bear's rasberry.

[@malik2433]

So strange this video just came out, because I came across billberries in the wild yesterday, no fruit unfortunately, but I'll make sure to go back next summer.

[@madonnafitzgerald7840]

You should make some gardenia tea or try some gardenia flowers by themselves. I grow gardenias, but I’ve never tried it, because I don’t get that many blooms and I don’t want to waste them. Some varieties also grow hips and you can buy dried ones on Amazon to make tea with, or just eat.

[@vazev]

One more detail to add regarding bilberries. They vary a lot in taste depending on growing conditions - primarily how sunny it is and how dry/wet their growing conditions are. Also, they lose a lot of their tartness when they're at their peak ripeness.

[@tombarse7252]

So, I recently stumbled upon your channel and I was curious, if you're doing blueberries, have you done june berries/service berries/Saskatoon? I apologize if you have, I haven't been able to find it yet. Kind of a neat plant, native to North America, with a range from the Yucatan peninsula to the arctic circle.

[@WeirdExplorer]

yep! it's a good one

[@emmasnecker1633]

As someone who grew up with "bilberries" being the "normal" blueberry for me: I think the big ones taste less blueberry and more sweet. I don't like the big ones at all and when something is "blueberry flavored" I'd expect it to be bilberry.

[@amadeuswinqvist2893]

Here's a fun fact for you. 17% of swedens surface area is covered in blueberry bushes.

[@Jmvars]

I pick my own blueberries in Finnmark, Norway. Nothing made me miss my own blueberries more than the giant supermarket blueberries that have almost no taste.

[@Skvalpenotta]

These are the "Real" blueberries here in Scandinavia. They're blue-ish on the inside and they color everything they touch blue. Also, the best ones are the ones growing deeper into the forest, where there's less light, because they take longer to ripen and therefore have more flavor :)

[@arturocostantino623]

I lived in northern Maine a they use a very wide tall and the blueberries are only found on sunny granite ground with almost no soil.

[@eligoldman9200]

Lamont dude that last shiny black is similar to nightshade but they look are suppose to taste like mini tomato’s.

[@candycastle3194]

Have you ever tried a very similar looking berry called sloe? Didn't see it among your videos. They are in season right now, give them a try. :)

[@jag0937eb]

look for wild strawberries in the area, small but amazing

[@celestialdiscord2716]

Last year I went to the central market the blueberries taste way more delicious from where I live

[@rakkrisr123]

Cool video 👍👍

[@davidbarts6144]

They look somewhat similar to the Cascade blueberries (Vaccinium deliciosum, and yes they live up to their botanical name) that grow in alpine meadows in the North Cascades.

[@PW-hp6vn]

In Poland we call them "Czarne Jagody" which can only translate easily to black berry (but that's even more confusing for english speaking people I guess)

[@djadysiti7371]

Wow🤩 i love to adventure and explore the woods to find me of delicious Berry's 🤤🤤🤤🤤

[@simontja]

Other Scandinavian berries that you haven't tried Blingon (wild hybrid--cross between lingonberries and bilberry) Arctic Brambleberry, Stone Bramble, Whitebeam, European dewberry, hackberry (Prunus padus), Mountain currant. There's many more, but I guess chasing berries become a bit pointless.

[@WeirdExplorer]

Guess I'll have to go back :D

[@Coolguyallthetime2k]

I really think that last dark berry was Sparkleberry (aka winter huckleberry) Vaccinium Arboreum.

[@perlovgren55]

In Scandinavia what Americans reffer to as billberries are to us blueberries. While there are several types of berries that are blue only on the outside, "real blue berries" are also blue on the inside. Would be interesting to know if they are related and if both types can be found in North America. Any one who knows ? Love them both ! Simply love berries ! Cheers !

[@iforgotmyusername11]

Wtf! I would ho back to Poland for the summers and go- or at least thought I did- Blueberry picking and foraging in the forest. I always thought they were blueberries, no one has ever told me different! Although, similarly to what our Finnish cousins have said, the "regular" blueberries were called American berry (not Blueberry, there's no word like that in the polish language) in the shops.

[@ado4224]

The big ones have watered down taste compared to small ones (the extra water made them bigger). That's what they say about them in my country

[@dancingram79]

We have them in Sweden too. We call them "blåbär" or blueberries. Sooo good! 😁 we pluck all sort of berries, lingonberries are awsome too. and mushrooms 🍄

[@mikemarcus7442]

You might find the shiny leaves are cranberry. They grow sparsely between the billberries where I live.

[@Rattizer]

If you can get a hold of arctic raspberry (Rubus arcticus) i'd be impressed, they are super rare and supposedly the tastiest berries in Europe.

[@lawrencebautista1]

The "blueberry" juice served in Finnair are actually made from bilberries. But they're not pure and loaded with sugar. In business class, you can have them mixed with their champagne to dilute their sweetness.

[@Brakvash]

The blueberry juice is exactly what is served: you call our blueberries "billberries" while the rest of Scandinavia calls them blueberries. As a point of perspective: Scandinavians and western Europeans call the american blueberry a "blueberry".

[@brandon9172]

Do a weird fruit video on datura stramonium

[@jeanettemullins]

In my part of the UK they're often known as whortleberries. We pick them on the moors. I think they taste like sherbert.

[@katokhaelan4881]

wow man, you're my hero. so cool

[@angelarichardson7281]

I lived by Whitesbog in NJ where the blueberry was first cultivated for over a decade. They had over a hundred cultivations of blueberries and none of them have the large white inside that you find in super market berries. What you find in the super market are flavorless and over produced for size.

[@leafster1337]

wow, that big berry bush!

[@lollol5234]

Wish I had your berry knowledge tbh

[@fuzzymilk]

the two types of bilberry are really the same species, the darker ones are just missing the waxy membrane on the outside for whatever reason

[@r.s.lawler4648]

Hi, I've enjoyed this video, especially the comparison with commercial blueberries as well as your mystery berry. I'd thought I'd share my experiences that might shed some light on the mystery. I do my berry picking above 4000' in the Cascade Mountains of the Pacific Northwest of the US. Up there you find a couple varieties of wild blueberries that are closer to you bilberries than the commercial blueberries. Then, in with them are three or four varieties of what we call huckleberries. The blueberries are blue with that white coating, (actually wild yeast accumulated from the air not wax), like your bilberries. Their leaves are green and rounded just like your bilberry and soft and supple to the touch. Frankly, I wish somebody would get those blueberry bushes out of my way some I could get to the huckleberries easier! The huckleberries do not have the white coating. The varieties all have some amount of red to them. One variety just enough to make them a darker blue then the blueberries, some enough to made the berries look black like your mystery berry. All them have some red in their leaves and are more pointed with a rougher edge like your mystery berry. One variety has so much red to it that the stems are also red and the berries have an almost royal purple tint to them. The leaves are all "crisper" and almost sticky to the touch. The varieties range from about 18" tall up to 6-7 feet. The tallest is my favorite. It produce berries almost the size of those commercial blueberries and jet black and juicy and sweet. From what I'm seeing your mystery berry is what we call a huckleberry. By the way, if you ever what the explore out here I'll take you up to these fields as well as take out picking blackcaps. These aren't those "blackcaps" you can buy in the store, those are really just black raspberries. These are the native Northwest blackberries. They are the only thing I like better than my huckleberries.

[@DiscoveryWonders]

American Blueberries ( known in EU as American Berries) don’t have any major health benefits - but European Blueberries ( true blueberries known in USA as billberry) do and LOADS. (Eye, heart, blood, kidneys health + highly anti cancerous if eaten raw or with no sugar added..) Americans confuse these types so much. True blueberry has loads of health benefits but US berries don’t. Worth remembering.

[@Ursaminor31]

I love berries, they are mostly all awesome. The wild blueberries in Canada are the best, they are probably bilberries, low, small, red variety.

[@nickguerra1905]

7:54 in the background theirs something just hovering behind you inbetween the trees

[@nickguerra1905]

8:06 u can see it moving around

[@Starkodder1963]

Nothing is like a full hand of newly picked real blueberries, directly eaten in the forest. And nothing like the blue violet colour on hands afterwards. Even better than wild raspberries.

[@ColleenCurrier-dp6qb]

bilberry helps the Air pilot to see well at night and good for their eyesight.

[@FFF-xz6wn]

Fins calls it mustikka and same in russian - chernika, probably because it's nearly black, not blue.

[@akumjh]

musta -> black musti -> Something that is black, also a commonish but maybe archaic dog name. mustikka -> Small black thing?

[@emdash8944]

Weirdly enough, in Finland we call European blueberries "blueberries" and American blueberries "bush blueberries" as if that was a good distinguishing feature.

[@murrrr8288]

In Finnish these are called blueberries and the ones with white inside are called "bush blueberries". I think the american ones look nice as cake decoration but are very flavourless compared to the European blue berry. Just add couple of those in a smoothie and all it tastes is blueberries.

[@jamestropicals8262]

Have you had dwarf June plum?

[@oweneercrx2974]

hey man! I love your channel and every single video I've seen so far :) I was checking out your Patreon and I was definitely thinking of doing the $100 tier thing because going to NYC (live in Westchester btw) and trying some new crazy fruits sounds awesome to me and I would love to support the channel to be able to see more awesome videos. However, I know Covid might be a bit of a roadblock for that so I was wondering if you have any idea when a trip like that would be doable for you, I also have a buddy who would love to come along and I was wondering if I did end up doing this trip sometime would it be possible to bring my friend for free or would it be necessary for him to support the $100 tier Patreon as well. (I think it would be an easy sell haha)

[@robertlunsford1350]

I am pretty sure those shiny ones grow in Florida or at least something very similar. They were stronger flavored than regular blue berries. I really liked them.

[@grainneocruhuir6383]

There were bilberries all over the adventure park my family went to when I was younger in scotland and I used to eat loads of them. Now that I think about it they probably could have done with a wash but I was fine so

[@ZoneCracker]

European Blueberry American Blueberry 'nuff said.

[@davecphotographyuk]

Some of the fruits are sweeter than others, if they are less rip e they are more acidic, but the riper they are the less sour they are.

[@shwetaagashe6280]

Pleasee come to Konkan,India when the pandemic is over. You'll see a lot of different fruits. And also try karvanda(Carissa carandas). You'll see a lot of shrubs along the side of the roads. We also have two different varieties of jackfruit,kaapa and barka. We have kokum,which us similar to mangosteen Many different types of mangoes. You can also try different products made from these fruits. Make sure you try kokum soda. Sorry for spamming but i really want you to visit Kokan

[@zigmundslv]

Looks like you were late in bilberry season, those berries look shrunken. They stay on plants till the autumn frost, but as longer they stay the more they became limp, watery, sour and tasteless. The ones exposed to more sun usually are smaller and sweeter, others growing in more shade are usually bigger, more juicy and fruity but not so sweet. Next time try delicious country side dessert mixing them with milk and sugar.

[@jamesnorlien3511]

I do not claim to know how the two kinds of berry are related, but the difference in appearance of the fruit is caused by a difference in the microbes that live on the skin of the fruit. In the dusty blue varieties, the microbial life on the skin of the fruit is strongly yeast dominated. This is not the case in their darker more glossy relatives. I would guess that it has something to do with tannin content or the berries having some other anti-fungal compound.

[@kristofersokk1580]

In Estonia, we don't have american type blueberries, so we call blueberries "culture blueberries", because I guess a lot of people here think they're the cultured versions of bilberries, and we call bilberries normal "blueberries"

[@fallknight5405]

Have you tried sea buckthorn berries

[@audpicc]

I'd love to see these two species compared to Vaccinium angustifolium, the lowbush blueberry.

[@afeathereddinosaur]

Just a stroll on Finland and you find some surprise berries, lucky break

[@juhosattanen]

Huh... Didn't have any idea I have been eating bilberries all my life instead of blueberries :D

[@N8URNURD]

The darker one looks like what we call Huckleberry in Nova Scotia. Better tasting less common blueberry.

[@petrnovotny7571]

I live in Czechia, we call blueberries "borůvky" and the american blueberries "kanadské borůvky" and that translates to canadian blueberries idk why, but for me the blueberries from Europe taste better.

[@nicoyazawa5195]

I spy fireweed (the purple flowers)! Not sure what they call it in Finland.

[@louielouielouee]

The world is turning back in to a fruity paradise!!!!!

[@steelstanding8005]

The weak sun makes them grow slow, gives them time to develop a rich taste.

[@BeardedWorm]

American cranberies are also a different species than the European ones. I believe the American cranberies are Vaccinum macrocarpon while the European species is either Vaccinum vitis idaea, Vaccinum oxycoccos or Vaccinum microcarpum

[@f_youtubecensorshipf_nazis]

I take billberry as a supplement because I have horrible night glare from headlights when driving, I was pretty shocked how much of a difference it made

[@MrWreeve]

FYI, the bilberries, and crow berries are native to Alaska as well.

[@MrWreeve]

And we just call them blueberries.