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Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (L.) Spreng.
Bearberry, kinnikinnick, common bearberry
Bearberry is a hardy mat-forming evergreen shrub, widely distributed across subarctic
North America. “Uva-ursi” means “bear’s
grape”: bearberry is favored by bears and many birds. It is native to North America, Europe, the Iberian Peninsula, Siberia, and the Himalayas.
Plants: A low-growing evergreen ”subshrub” 1¾–12″ (5–30 cm) in height.
Branches are white to pale green, almost velvety, later becoming smooth and red-brown.
These plants’ dark green shiny leaves and red, hard berries about ¼″ (6.3 mm)
in diameter resemble cranberries, but they are not related to them.
Bearberry
leaves look a little like a shoehorn, wider at one end than at the other, while
cranberry leaves are about the same
size at both ends and mountain cranberry has sharper tips.
Leaves: Shiny, thick, dark green on top and lighter below,
1½ ⨉ ⅜″ (4 ⨉ 1 cm), with rounded tips.
Flowers: Flowers are white, urn-shaped like blueberry
flowers, and tinged with pink. They appear from May to June.
Fruits: Smooth, round, similar to cranberries, ⅛–½″ (6–13 mm)
around.
Habitats: Acidic, dry to medium, well-drained, sandy or gritty soils in full sun. Circumpolar.
Edibility:Drupes are bitter, mealy, and
flavorless when raw, but edible when boiled,
dried, and sweetened. Each drupe contains 1-5 nutlets.
Meriwether Lewis described these fruits in 1806 to be “tasteless and insipid.”
