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| Photo by Renee Brecht | Britton and Brown. See
credits below.** |
| Botanical name: |
Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (L.) Spreng. |
| Common
name: |
bearberry |
| Synonomy: | | Arctostaphylos adenotricha (Fernald & J.F. Macbr.) A. L–ve & D. L–ve & Kapoor | | Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (L.) Spreng. ssp. adenotricha (Fernald & J.F. Macbr.) Calder & Roy L. Taylor | | Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (L.) Spreng. ssp. coactilis (Fernald & J.F. Macbr.) A. L–ve & D. L–ve & Kapoor | | Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (L.) Spreng. ssp. longipilosa Packer & Denford | | Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (L.) Spreng. ssp. monoensis J.B. Roof | | Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (L.) Spreng. ssp. stipitata Packer & Denford | | Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (L.) Spreng. var. adenotricha Fernald & J.F. Macbr. | | Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (L.) Spreng. var. coactilis Fernald & J.F. Macbr. | | Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (L.) Spreng. var. leobreweri J.B. Roof | | Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (L.) Spreng. var. marinensis J.B. Roof | | Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (L.) Spreng. var. pacifica HultÈn | | Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (L.) Spreng. var. stipitata (Packer & Denford) Dorn | | Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (L.) Spreng. var. suborbiculata W. Knight | | Uva-Ursi uva-ursi (L.) Britton |
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| Group: |
dicot |
| Family: |
Ericaceae |
| Growth
Type: |
subshrub
shrub |
| Duration: |
perennial |
| Origin: |
native |
| Plant
height: |
thick, prostrate, trailing sub-shrub; to 6" |
| Foliage: |
simple leaves, alternate, broadleaf evergreen, leathery,
approximately 1" long with rounded tips. Foliage changes from dark
green to reddish-green to purple in the fall |
| Flowers: |
terminal clusters, small urn shaped, white to pink; bears a bright red to pink fruit (drupe) app. 1/4" - 1/2" in diameter. |
| Flowering/fruiting time: |
May to June |
| Habitat: |
sandy soils |
| Range
in
New Jersey: |
reported from three localities on the Palisades and mountains of the northern counties and frequent in the central Pine Barrens.
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| Heritage ranking if any: |
n/a |
| Distribution: |
 |
| Misc.: |
Stone, in 1910, says: ""This is one of the most characteristic of
the plains of the Pine Barrens, though it is not so closely restricted
to this area of dwarf vegetation as is the Corema. Both are northern
species of wind-swept coast and mountain top, which here find their
southernmost limit.
Mr. C.F. Saunders says of it in this region:
'In some laces the Bearberry formed a veritable carpet, the dry,
astringent berries not yet tinged with the crimson that makes them so
conspicuous in winter. The gathering of this plant for shipment to the
cities, where it has been more or less extensively employed in
medicine, used to be a considerable industry in southern New Jersey. A
reminiscence of this old-time trade still lingers in one of the common
names of the plant down there, viz., Uvursy--the shop name of the berry being uva-ursi.'
In
early spring the plant is particularly attractive when we find among
the dark, shining evergreen leaves the tiny little urnshaped pink and
white blossoms, like diminutive Huckleberry flowers, but far more
delicate.
In mid summer, on the white sandy wastes, the dense
mats of foliage of the Bearberry offer welcome shelter to various
grasshoppers, lizards, etc., which go scuttling away as their retreat
is threatened." (621.
The drupes are eaten by several species of
songbirds and game animals; deer will occasionally browse the foliage.
For more information, see the USDA pdf.
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Sources
**USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An illustrated flora of the northern United States, Canada and the British Possessions. Vol. 2: 693. |
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