cranberry-myrtle

Survives zone 7 through 8

Harvest calendar

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

Despite the name, tastes nothing like a true cranberry — small pink-to-white pearly berries with a sweet, floral, almost perfumed flavor, described by early botanists as fleshy and agreeably flavored. A genuine curiosity from Patagonia's rocky outcrops rather than a substantial crop, given its tiny groundcover stature.

Hardiness

Zone 7–8

Habit

Groundcover

Edible part

Fruit

Ripens

Autumn

Mature size

Creeping evergreen groundcover 10–20 cm

Light

Full sun (open bog/moorland)

Soil pH

5.5–7.0 (acid–neutral; dislikes chalk)

Environment

Bog and moorland

Native range

Southern Chile and Argentina (Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego) and the Falkland Islands

Status

Both wild and cultivated

Years to fruit

3–4 yrs

Growth speed

Slow

Spacing

30 cm (12 in) apart — about 11 per m² (10 per 10 sq ft)

Leaf shape

Opposite, tiny, rounded to oval leaves only 4–6 mm long on wiry reddish stems — the leaves give the plant its name, nummularia meaning coin-like.

Root system

Shallow, wiry and mat-forming, rooting as the stems creep, in permanently moist peaty ground. Cannot cope with drying out; equally it will not stand stagnant waterlogging over winter.

Fruit description

Oblong pearly berry 5–10 mm long, white flushing pink to red, with soft juicy sweet-aromatic flesh. Eaten fresh in Patagonia and the Falklands and made into jam and liqueur. Ripens in late autumn to early winter in habitat.

Propagation

Detach rooted portions of the mat — much the easiest method — or take semi-ripe cuttings in summer. Seed is viable but 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.