Medicinal Monday...Wild Low Bush Blueberry

Vaccinium angustifolium or Wild Low Bush Blueberry not only produces delicious berries it also supports 300 + butterfly and moth species, and has pretty pinkish bell-shaped flowers in the spring and brilliant orange foliage in the fall. It was also used traditionally as food and medicine by many Native American communities.

About the Wild Low Bush Blueberry

The Wild Low Bush Blueberry plant is a hardy and attractive low-growing native shrub that is valued by wildlife and people for its sweet berries. It is native to Eastern, North Eastern, and Central Canada. It can grow up to two feet tall and has multiple woody stems, twig-like branches, and glossy foliage that is dark green in the spring and summer and turns orange and bronze in the autumn. The glossy blue-green leaves have serrated edges and drop off in the winter.  Bell-shaped flowers appear in the spring and are whitish-pink. As they mature, blue edible berries emerge. It can be found throughout New England including Connecticut and prefers conifer woods, grasslands, ledges, sandy or rocky soil, and old fields. Traditionally, to stimulate growth, Native Americans burned away trees and shrubs, a method still used by farmers today.

Medicinal and Culinary Uses

Blueberries were eaten raw and used in stews put into puddings and mush and made into jam, pies, cakes, cobblers, and pate. The fruit was also dried and stored for future use. According to the Smithsonian Magazine, a favorite traditional dish of Native Americans was called sautauthig and was made with dried blueberries and dried cracked corn mixed with water. Dried blueberries are also an ingredient of pemmican, a Native American "power bar." Some communities gathered the berries and sold them.

photo Nicholas Tonelli

Two of the most common traditional medicinal uses of this plant were to make an infusion of the leaves and give it to infants for colic. The other use was to make an infusion of roots and give it to women to induce labor. The Chippewa put the dried flowers of this shrub onto hot stones and had people with mental problems inhale the smoke. The Iroquois used the berries ceremonially to ensure health and prosperity in the coming season. The Ojibwa drank an infusion of the leaves to purify their blood.

photo Albert Herring

Did You Know...

Because it can tolerate challenging soils, even mine tailings, lowbush blueberry is occasionally used to revegetate disturbed sites.

The wild low-bush blueberry bush is the leading source of commercial blueberries in the United States.

Oxford Nova Scotia is called the Blueberry Capital of Canada.

Blueberries are the state fruit of Maine and the official dessert of Maine is blueberry pie.

Full of antioxidents blueberries have many health benefits and are a popular fruit today.