bearberry

Photo: Walter Siegmund — CC BY 2.5 · source

Survives zone 2 through 6

Harvest calendar

Best planted in early spring after your last frost, or in fall before the ground freezes, depending on your climate.

Bearberry — dry and mealy; mostly for cooking.

Hardiness

Zone 2–6

Habit

Groundcover

Edible part

Fruit

Ripens

July–Sept

Mature size

Prostrate evergreen mat 10–20 cm tall spreading 0.6–1.5 m by rooting stems; good in troughs and containers

Light

Full sun

Soil pH

4.0–5.5 — ⚠ STRICTLY ACID-LOVING (calcifuge). Will die on alkaline soil; use ericaceous compost + rainwater

Environment

Arctic, boreal and montane

Native range

Circumboreal — northern North America, northern Europe and northern Asia, extending south at altitude in mountain ranges

Status

Both wild and cultivated

Years to fruit

2–3 yrs

Growth speed

Slow

Spacing

60 cm (24 in) apart — about 2.8 per m² (2.6 per 10 sq ft)

Leaf shape

Alternate, small, spoon-shaped to obovate, 1–3 cm long, thick and leathery with entire margins and a rounded tip — glossy dark green, bronzing in winter.

Root system

Shallow but extensive, roughly 15–30 cm deep, spreading by trailing stems that root down as stolons where they touch the ground. Depends heavily on ericoid mycorrhizal partners for nutrients on the poor sandy and rocky soils it favours, which is why transplants from pots establish better than bare-root divisions.

Fruit description

Bright red drupe about 6 mm across, borne in small clusters and often persisting into winter. Dry, mealy and near-flavourless raw — the alternative name mealberry is exact — and traditionally cooked, or used with fat and other fruit rather than eaten alone.

Propagation

Semi-ripe stem cuttings 10–15 cm taken in late summer with rooting hormone give reliable results. Rooted layers can simply be detached. Seed needs both scarification and long stratification and is slow.

Pollination

Self-fertile

The edible parts listed above are a starting point, not a field guide. Identify a plant with certainty — ideally against a local authority — before eating any part of it, and read the full disclaimer. Spotted something wrong? Report it.