Vaccinium vitis-idaea
Lingonberry
How do you recognise lingonberry?
An evergreen dwarf shrub 5–30 cm tall whose leathery leaves stay green through the winter. Each leaf is 10–25 mm long and carries dark dots on its underside, visible without a lens. The flower is a white or faintly pink bell, and it becomes a round red berry.
What is it confused with?
Bearberry has no dark dots beneath the leaf. Bilberry drops its leaves in autumn and has green, angular stems.
Where does lingonberry grow, and when does it flower?
Grows above all in dry heath forest, but also on bogs, rocks, and meadow edges across almost the whole country. Flowers in May and June, with berries ripe by September.
Can you collect it for a herbarium?
Lingonberry is very common, and a short leafy sprig is enough for a herbarium.
Did you know?
The dark dots under the leaf are small glands, and they are the surest way to separate lingonberry from bearberry. One leathery leaf can stay on the plant for several years.
Where does lingonberry grow in Finland?
The map shows where the species has been recorded. Darker squares mean more observations.
Loading the map
Observations: GBIF · 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.
