Velvet-leaved blueberry, Canada blueberry

The fleshy fruit is sweet and tasty. Indigenous peoples added it to their dried meat (pemmican) as a flavour enhancer. They also successfully dried the fruit for up to 2 years by boiling it down for about 10 hours into a solid mass. Blueberries are very good to eat raw, and can also be made into jam, pies, pudding, wine and liqueur. The shrub's leaves are also made into tea. An infusion of the leaves is also used to treat diarrhea and enteritis. The berries produce a grey or blue dye.