PlantWatch

Cranberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea)

Photo by Memoriial University of Newfoundland Botanical Garden

Also known as: lowbush cranberry
French name: airelle de montagne
Bloom time: May to July
Report for: YK, NT, NU, MB

General: This species of cranberry is a low evergreen shrub that forms mats.

Leaves & Twigs: The simple, oval-shaped, leathery leaves have a dark green, shiny upper surface with a paler green under surface dotted with dark glands.

This plant resembles bearberry, but its leaves have a notched tip which is not present on bearberry leaves. (See bearberry description for more tips on their differences.)

Flowers & Fruit: The tiny pink or white flowers (about 4-8 mm long) resemble drooping bells, and appear in small clusters at the tips of branches. The fruit is bright to dark red, ripening in August or September.

Habitat: Cranberry prefers open, acidic, boggy places, including muskeg, rocky barrens and moist to dry coniferous woods.

Sampling: Select a typical patch of plants, if the plants are very abundant, mark off a 1-metre-square section to observe.

To Observe:

• First bloom: when the first flowers are open in the observed plants (three places).
• Mid bloom when 50% of the flowers are open in the observed plants.