Blueberries Arandanos

[Rich One]

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Yes the Moras are definitely not Blueberries. I suspect the Moras might be a native species as I've seen them growing wild - could be wrong though.

Moras are Blackberries...


http://spanish.about.com/od/wordlists/a/fruits.htm

apple — la manzana
apricot — el damasco, el albericoque
avocado — el aguacate
banana — el plátano, la banana
blackberry — la mora, la zarzamora
blueberry — el arándano
camu camu — el camu camu

 

[Ries]

I doubt it.

While not impossible, it seems quite unlikely. 100 years ago, before comercial air travel, one of the few immigrants to Patagonia from the US or Canada (Butch Cassidy?) would have had to go through a lot of trouble to import -involving at least a month on a boat and a complex overland journey- what amounts to a finicky shrub that requires cross pollination to bear its tiny yet tasty fruit.

after a bit more research, i think you are right- while "highbush" blueberries were hybridized in the 1890s, commercial blueberry production didnt start until about 1916. In the pine barrens of new jersey, of all places.
My guess is that blueberry starts for home gardeners were not available until the 1940s.
However, having been on estancias with incredible gardens that are very old, I am quite sure that large landowners have been importing foreign ornamentals and garden plants, including vegetables, to Argentina, for a long long time. So it is quite possible that the odd blueberry bush was being grown in the fifties.
Blueberries are native to north america, but related species are also native to south america.

 

[Tilda]

You don't know what a blueberry is until you have tried the norther European variety. Depending on if you pick it from the shade or the sun it's either a sweet or acid explosion in you mouth. Granted, I'm biased... After some investigation I see that this wouldn't be called blueberry in English, but rather Bilberry.

The zarzamoras that you find in Neuquen and Rio Negro are invasive plants brought over from Europe. The native varieties are very different.