Plants Pacific Northwest

Vaccinium Vitis-idaea - Mountain Cranberry

Note: These plants can be dangerous if improperly used. The author, and/or ernestartist.org assume no liability for experimentation of use.

Plate 152 Plate 153

Ernestartist.org assumes no liability for experimental use of medicinal plants, food plants or herbal remedies.

Vaccinium Vitis-idaea: Cowberry, Foxberry, Lingberry, Lingen, Lingonberry, Mountain cranberry, Partridge berry, Rock cranberry, Whimberry.

I found this dwarf shrub on a hike along Seymour mountain growing between two very large boulders, trailing down a steep embankment beside the main trail to Seymour peak.. The plant usually flowers in May or June depending on altitude and amount of sunlight. The fruit ripen to a delicious, sweet, edible red berry by August or early September.

A low, creeping, evergreen subshrub that commonly reaches 2"-6" in height. It typically grows in dense rhizomatous colonies and frequently forms mats.
Stems semi-woody, slender and trailing, bearing numerous shoots 1-2 mm in diameter.
Roots consist of tap roots with finely divided rootlets at the extremities and adventitious roots occurring at nodes along creeping stems and rhizomes. The branched rhizomes have numerous hair-like roots. Maximum rooting depths 2"-11". 80% of the total biomass of mature plants is underground.
Leaves simple, thick, leathery, and evergreen; are obovate, oblong, or elliptic, alternating in a spiral. Upper surface dark green; the lower surface pale green, waxy with black glandular dots, turning purplish in fall. Leaves may persist for up to 3 years.
Plants become dormant by fall.
Flowers develop from buds initiated the previous year, occurring on terminal racemes singly or in groups of up to 15.
Fruit a bright to dark red, globular berry approximately 1/4" to 1/2" in diameter.

Mountain Cranberry grows in Northern temperate forests, arctic and alpine communities. At the southern edge of its range, occurs primarily in bogs, but in the north grows on both wet and dry sites. Also on high moors, heath barrens, sand dunes, and in peatlands, forest swamps, and bogs. In mature forests, plants often grow on top of decaying tree stumps.

Native Americans and indigenous peoples of Eurasia used the leaves and fruit as food or medicine. Preparations made from the leaves were used to treat bladder problems, gout, and rheumatism. Medicinal fruit jellies were used to treat sore throats and colds. The Slave, Athabaska, Cree, and Inuit people ate the fruit fresh and preserved them for winter use. Berries were often boiled and mixed with oil to facilitate storage for long periods.
Fruit can be eaten raw or cooked to make a tart sauce. Berries are used to make preserves, jam, jelly, candy, syrup, pickles, juice beverages, and wine. Fruit can be added to rose hips to make a tasty jelly, or added to various ice cream products.
Fruit is widely processed and marketed in Japan and Europe and is harvested commercially in parts of Alaska, Scandinavia, Russia, and Canada. Large amounts of fruit are imported into the US annually, much of this consumed by peoples of Scandinavian descent who use the so-called "Swedish lingenberry" in traditional dishes.
Arbutin, which is obtained from the leaves and stems, is used by the pharmaceutical industry in preparations used to treat intestinal disorders.