Kylmä Co. · Finland
Nordic berry names in 10 languages: bilberry, lingonberry, cranberry, sea buckthorn, aronia
Half the questions that bring people to this site are really one question: what is this berry called in my language? Here is the answer for the five berries we work with, plus the cultivated blueberry that gets confused with the wild bilberry. The Latin name is the one that settles a label argument.
The table
| Language | Bilberry Vaccinium myrtillus | Lingonberry Vaccinium vitis-idaea | Cranberry (Nordic) Vaccinium oxycoccos | Sea buckthorn Hippophaë rhamnoides | Aronia Aronia melanocarpa | Blueberry (cultivated) Vaccinium corymbosum |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | bilberry, European blueberry, whortleberry | lingonberry, cowberry, mountain cranberry | small cranberry, bog cranberry | sea buckthorn, seaberry | aronia, black chokeberry | blueberry, highbush blueberry |
| Finnish | mustikka | puolukka | karpalo (isokarpalo) | tyrni | marja-aronia, musta-aronia | pensasmustikka |
| Swedish | blåbär | lingon | tranbär | havtorn | aronia, svartaronia | amerikanska blåbär, trädgårdsblåbär |
| German | Heidelbeere, Blaubeere, Bickbeere | Preiselbeere, Kronsbeere | Moosbeere | Sanddorn | Aronia, Apfelbeere | Kulturheidelbeere |
| French | myrtille, myrtille sauvage | airelle rouge | canneberge, airelle des marais | argousier | aronia, aronie à fruits noirs | bleuet, myrtille cultivée |
| Italian | mirtillo nero | mirtillo rosso | mirtillo palustre, ossicocco | olivello spinoso | aronia | mirtillo gigante americano |
| Spanish | arándano, mirtilo | arándano rojo | arándano palustre, arándano agrio | espino amarillo | aronia | arándano azul |
| Japanese | ビルベリー (birubērī) | コケモモ (kokemomo) | ツルコケモモ (tsurukokemomo), クランベリー | シーバックソーン, サジー | アロニア | ブルーベリー |
| Chinese | 黑果越橘, 欧洲越橘 (hēiguǒ yuèjú) | 越橘 (yuèjú) | 蔓越莓, 小果蔓越橘 (mànyuèméi) | 沙棘 (shājí) | 野樱莓, 黑果腺肋花楸 (yěyīngméi) | 蓝莓 (lánméi) |
| Korean | 빌베리 (bilberi) | 링곤베리 (lingonberi), 월귤 | 크랜베리 (keuraenberi) | 산자나무, 비타민나무 | 아로니아 (aronia) | 블루베리 |
Bilberry, not blueberry
In Finnish and Swedish, mustikka and blåbär mean the wild forest bilberry, the one that is purple all the way through. The large cultivated blueberry has its own names (pensasmustikka, amerikanska blåbär). English usually calls both “blueberry”, which is how a Finnish mustikka ends up labelled blueberry abroad. German has the same problem in reverse: Heidelbeere is the wild berry, but shops often use it for cultivated fruit too. The guide to wild bilberry vs cultivated blueberry shows the difference with one cut.
Lingonberry and the cranberry confusion
Preiselbeere, arándano rojo and mirtillo rosso are all used for lingonberry, and all three are also printed on jars that actually contain American cranberry. Norwegian and Danish use tyttebær, Russian брусника (brusnika). If the label does not say Vaccinium vitis-idaea, turn the jar around. The full story is in what is a lingonberry.
Two cranberries
The Nordic bog cranberry, Vaccinium oxycoccos (karpalo, tranbär, Moosbeere, Russian клюква), is the size of a pea and picked wild. The American cranberry, Vaccinium macrocarpon, is the farmed one in juice and dried snacks. Most languages use one word for both, so the Latin name matters. See wild Nordic cranberry vs American cranberry.
Sea buckthorn and aronia
Sea buckthorn is tyrni, havtorn, Sanddorn, argousier, olivello spinoso, espino amarillo, 沙棘; Norwegian tindved, Russian облепиха. Aronia keeps its name almost everywhere; the English alternative is black chokeberry, Finnish marja-aronia, German Apfelbeere, Chinese 野樱莓, Russian черноплодная рябина. Both ripen in September: see the autumn berry season in Finland.
Where these berries come from
Every powder we sell is one of these berries and nothing else: bilberry, lingonberry, cranberry and sea buckthorn picked wild in Finnish forests, aronia grown on Finnish farms, all packed in Nurmijärvi. Browse the shop, or, if you buy for a shop or a kitchen, the wholesale page.
Frequently asked questions
What is bilberry in Finnish?
Mustikka. In Swedish it is blåbär. Both words mean the wild forest bilberry, Vaccinium myrtillus, not the cultivated blueberry.
What is lingonberry in German?
Preiselbeere (also Kronsbeere in the north). Check that the jar says Vaccinium vitis-idaea, because the same word is often used for American cranberry.
What is cranberry in Finnish?
Karpalo. The wild Nordic bog cranberry is Vaccinium oxycoccos; the American cranberry is Vaccinium macrocarpon and is sometimes called amerikankarpalo.
What is tranbär in English?
Cranberry. Tranbär is the Swedish name; in Finnish the same berry is karpalo.
What is aronia in Chinese?
野樱莓 (yěyīngméi); the botanical name is 黑果腺肋花楸. In Japanese and Korean it is simply アロニア and 아로니아.
Is blåbär a blueberry or a bilberry?
A bilberry. In Sweden and Finland blåbär and mustikka mean the wild Vaccinium myrtillus. The cultivated blueberry is called amerikanska blåbär or pensasmustikka.
From our shop: The Full Range Bundle →