Adventist Youth Honors Answer Book/Edible Wild Plants/Blueberry

Blueberry Blueberries.jpg Blueberries are shrubs varying in size from 10 cm tall to 4 m tall; the smaller species are known as "lowbush blueberries", and the larger species as "highbush blueberries". The leaves can be either deciduous or evergreen, ovate to lanceolate, and from 1-8 cm long and 0.5-3.5 cm broad. The flowers are bell-shaped, white, pale pink or red, sometimes tinged greenish. The fruit is a berry 5-16 mm diameter with a flared "crown" at the end; they are pale greenish at first, then reddish-purple, and finally turn blue or dark purple on ripening. They have a sweet taste when mature, with variable acidity. Native to North America and eastern Asia. The blueberry season typically runs from May to October, peaking in July Blueberries are used in jellies, jams, and pies, baked into muffins, and are an ingredient of many other snacks and delicacies.