Crowberry

Crowberry
Crowberry
Empetrum nigrum
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: Ericales
Family: Ericaceae
Genus: Empetrum L.
Species

Empetrum eamesii[1]
Empetrum hermaphroditum
Empetrum nigrum
Empetrum rubrum

Crowberry (Empetrum) is a small genus of dwarf evergreen shrubs that bear edible fruit. They are commonly found in the northern hemisphere, from temperate to subarctic climates, and also in the Southern Andes of South America and on the South Atlantic islands of South Georgia, the Falklands and Tristan da Cunha. The typical habitat is on moorlands, tundra and muskeg, but also in spruce forests. They are also found abundantly on the dune slacks and sand dunes of the Danish Island of Fanø as well as all over Iceland.

Species of crowberry include: E. nigrum (Crowberry), E. eamesii (Rockberry), E.rubrum and E. hermaphroditum. All are evergreen mat forming shrubs, with small, light green needle-like leaves 3-10 mm long. The flowers are small and plain looking. The fruit is a fairly dry black berry, smaller than the alpine bearberry, but with somewhat better flavour, and looks similar to a blueberry.

The genus and related ones such as Ceratiola and Corema[2] were for most of the 20th century classified in their own family Empetraceae, but molecular data, leaf morphology, and other considerations point to their inclusion in the Ericaceae (specifically, as a tribe within the subfamily Ericoideae). This tribe does share a number of distinctive morphological features, which seem to be associated with wind pollination.[3]

Uses

In subarctic areas, Crowberry has been a vital addition to the diet of the Inuit and the Sami. After waning popularity, the crowberry is regaining its reputation as an edible berry. It provides a steady crop and the gathering is relatively easy. The high concentration of anthocyanin pigment can be used as a natural food dye. The Dena'ina (Tanaina) harvest it for food, sometimes storing in quantity for winter, and like it mixed with lard or oil. They keep well in a cool place without any special preparation.

The berries are usually collected in the fall of the year but if not picked they may persist on the plant and can be picked in the spring. The Inuit and Native Americans mix them with other berries, especially the blueberry. Cooking enhances the flavor. They make good pie and jelly.

The leaves and stems are used in Dena'ina medicine for diarrhea and stomach problems; they are boiled or soaked in hot water, and the strained liquid drunk. Some claim the berry juice is good for kidney trouble.[who?]

The yellow-leaved cultivar Empetrum nigrum 'Lucia'

In Dena'ina plantlore in the Outer and Upper Inlet area of Lake Clark, the root is also used as a medicine, being used to remove a growth on an eye and to heal sore eyes. The roots are boiled and the eyes are washed with the strained, cooled tea, to which a little sugar may be added. Some people say blackberry stems can be used in the same way for these ailments.[who?]

Crowberries contain mostly water. Their vitamin content is low, as is also the concentration of volatile liquids, the lack of which makes them almost odorless. The acidity is lower than is typically encountered in forest berries, and benzene acids are almost absent.

Crowberries are also occasionally grown as ornamental plants in rockeries, notably the yellow-foliage cultivar Empetrum nigrum 'Lucia' (photo, left).

Crowberries (Empetrum nigrum) taken on the Westman Islands, Iceland

References

  1. ^ Empetrum eamesii Fernald & Wiegand, USDA PLANTS
  2. ^ "Genera for Family = Empetraceae". USDA PLANTS. http://plants.usda.gov/java/generaRpt?searchTxt=Empetraceae&symbol=EMNI. 
  3. ^ "Ericaceae". Flora of China. http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=10316. 

See also


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • crowberry — [krō′ber΄ē] adj. [prob. transl. of Ger krähenbeere] designating a family (Empetraceae, order Ericales) of dicotyledonous shrubby evergreens n. pl. crowberries 1. any of several hardy, low, evergreen shrubs (genus Empetrum) of the crowberry family …   English World dictionary

  • Crowberry — Crow ber ry (kr? b?r r?), n. (Bot.) A heathlike plant of the genus {Empetrum}, and its fruit, a black, scarcely edible berry; also called {crakeberry}. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • crowberry — noun Date: 1597 1. an evergreen subshrub (Empetrum nigrum of the family Empetraceae) of subtemperate regions with an inedible tasteless black berry 2. the fruit of a crowberry …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • crowberry — /kroh ber ee, beuh ree/, n., pl. crowberries. 1. the black or reddish berry of a heathlike, evergreen shrub, Empetrum nigrum, of northern regions. 2. the plant itself. 3. any of certain other fruits or the plants bearing similar berries, as the… …   Universalium

  • crowberry — noun a) Empetrum; a small genus of dwarf evergreen shrubs that bear edible fruit. b) Empetrum nigrum; a species of crowberry …   Wiktionary

  • crowberry — noun (plural crowberries) 1》 a creeping heather like dwarf shrub with small leaves and black berries. [Empetrum nigrum.] 2》 the edible but flavourless black berry of the crowberry …   English new terms dictionary

  • crowberry — crow•ber•ry [[t]ˈkroʊˌbɛr i, bə ri[/t]] n. pl. ries 1) pln a low evergreen shrub, Empetrum nigrum, of the crowberry family, bearing an edible black berry 2) pln the berry itself • Etymology: 1590–1600 …   From formal English to slang

  • crowberry — /ˈkroʊbɛri/ (say krohberee) noun (plural crowberries) 1. the insipid black or reddish berry of an evergreen heath like shrub, Empetrum nigrum, of northern regions. 2. the plant itself, of the family Empetraceae …  

  • crowberry — n. (pl. ies) 1 a a heathlike evergreen shrub Empetrum nigrum, bearing black berries. b the flavourless edible berry of this plant. 2 US a cranberry …   Useful english dictionary

  • crowberry family — crow′berry fam ily n. pln a family, Empetraceae, of heathlike evergreen shrubs, of N regions, having black to red berries …   From formal English to slang

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