Empetrum nigrum
Crowberry
How do you recognise crowberry?
A low evergreen dwarf shrub whose densely branched stems run along the ground. The leaves are small, needle-like, and rolled at the edges. Small pink flowers form in the leaf axils and become a shiny black juicy berry.
What is it confused with?
Heather also has needle-like leaves, but its flowers are conspicuous pink bells at the shoot tip and it bears no berries. Crowberry flowers are easily missed altogether.
Where does crowberry grow, and when does it flower?
Crowberry grows on both heaths and bogs throughout the country, and in Lapland also in mesic forest and on the fells. It withstands drought and frost without damage.
Can you collect it for a herbarium?
Crowberry is common on heaths and bogs, and a short sprig is enough.
Did you know?
Crowberry is wind-pollinated, so the berry crop is abundant almost every year, unlike many insect-pollinated berry plants. Northern plants are usually hermaphrodite and yield more than southern ones.
Where does crowberry grow in Finland?
The map shows where the species has been recorded. Darker squares mean more observations.
Loading the map
Observations: GBIF ยท Map: CARTO, OpenStreetMap
Sources: fi.wikipedia.org
Identify plants with your phone
Linnea identifies a plant from a photo and tells you its name and its story. Every find takes its own numbered place in your herbarium, with the day and the town where you found it.
