Northern Black Currant vs Bilberry - TreeTime.ca

Northern Black Currant vs Bilberry

Ribes hudsonianum

Vaccinium myrtillus

CUSTOM GROW

CUSTOM GROW

Northern Black Currant
Bilberry

Northern Black Currant is a native deciduous shrub found across Canada and the northern United States. Dark purple to black berries that ripen in summer and provide food for wildlife and humans. Fragrant yellow-green flowers that attract a wide variety of pollinators.
This shrub is well adapted to moist soils and can even survive periods of flooding. It has an interesting bronze colour in fall.

American Black Currant is a native deciduous shrub known for its clusters of small black berries that ripen in mid-to-late summer. The berries are edible and have long been used for fresh eating, preserves, and baking. They provide food for birds and mammals, and their fragrant spring flowers attract bees and other pollinators.

American Black Currant’s foliage serves as a host plant for butterfly species such as the Green Comma and Gray Comma, and its dense branching offers cover for wildlife. The shrub has traditionally been planted in shelterbelts, riparian buffers, and restoration projects.

Northern Black Currant Quick Facts

Bilberry Quick Facts

Zone: 3a
Zone: 3a
Height: 0.9 m (3 ft)
Height: 0.3 m (1.0 ft)
Spread: 1.2 m (4 ft)
Spread: 0.5 m (1.5 ft)
Light: partial shade, full sun
Light: partial shade, full sun
Moisture: normal, wet
Moisture: normal
Growth rate: medium
Growth rate: slow
Life span: medium
Life span: medium
Growth form: upright to prostrate, thicket-forming
Growth form: low growing, clump-forming
Spreading: seeds - low, layering - low
Spreading: rhizomes - medium, seeds - medium
Maintenance: medium


Toxicity: leaves may be unsafe in high doses
Flowers: small white, in clusters
Flowers: white or pink, bell-shaped
Bloom time: spring to early summer
Bloom time: summer
Berries: black, edible
Berries: round bluish-purple berries, edible
Flavor: bitter
Flavor: sweet
Harvest: mid to late summer
Harvest: late summer to early fall
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: no


Native to: AB, BC, SK, MB, ON, QC, YT, NT
Native to: AB, BC
Other Names: hudson bay currant, stinking currant, western black currant, wild black currant
Other Names: common bilberry, dwarf bilberry, low bilberry, myrtille, myrtle blueberry, myrtle whortleberry, whortleberry