''Empetrum nigrum'', crowberry, black crowberry, mossberry, or, in western Alaska, Labrador, etc., blackberry, is a

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

species in the heather family

Ericaceae The Ericaceae () are a Family (biology), family of flowering plants, commonly known as the heath or heather family, found most commonly in acidic and infertile growing conditions. The family is large, with about 4,250 known species spread acros ...

with a near circumboreal distribution in the

Northern Hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined by humans as being in the same celestial sphere, celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the Solar ...

Description

''Empetrum nigrum'' is a low growing,

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

shrub with a creeping habit. The

leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

are long, arranged alternately along the stem. The stems are red when young and then fade to brown. It blooms between May and June. It is usually dioecious. The flowers are small and not very noticeable, with greenish-pink sepals that turn reddish purple. The round

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

s are

drupe In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is a type of fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pip'' (UK), ''pit'' (US), ''stone'', or ''pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed ...

s, wide, usually black or purplish-black but occasionally red. Its fruit persists for an average of 92.7 days, and bears an average of 7.8 seeds per fruit. Fruits average 86.5% water, and their dry weight includes 14.4%

carbohydrate A carbohydrate () is a biomolecule composed of carbon (C), hydrogen (H), and oxygen (O) atoms. The typical hydrogen-to-oxygen atomic ratio is 2:1, analogous to that of water, and is represented by the empirical formula (where ''m'' and ''n'' ...

s and 12.2%

lipid Lipids are a broad group of organic compounds which include fats, waxes, sterols, fat-soluble vitamins (such as vitamins A, D, E and K), monoglycerides, diglycerides, phospholipids, and others. The functions of lipids include storing ...

s, which is possibly the highest lipid content of any fleshy fruit in Europe.

Subspecies

* ''Empetrum nigrum'' subsp. ''asiaticum'' (Nakai ex H.Ito) Kuvaev – Korean crowberry * ''Empetrum nigrum'' subsp. ''hermaphroditum'' – a

monoecious Monoecy (; adj. monoecious ) is a sexual system in seed plants where separate male and female cones or flowers are present on the same plant. It is a monomorphic sexual system comparable with gynomonoecy, andromonoecy and trimonoecy, and contras ...

tetraploid subspecies (sometimes considered its own species) occurring further north and at higher altitudes. * ''Empetrum nigrum'' subsp. ''subholarcticum'' (V.N.Vassil.) Kuvaev (synonym: ''Empetrum subholarcticum'' V.N.Vassil.)

Distribution and habitat

The species has a near circumboreal distribution in the

. It is also native in the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; ), commonly referred to as The Falklands, is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and from Cape Dub ...

. Evolutionary biologists have explained the striking geographic distribution of crowberries as a result of long-distance migratory birds dispersing seeds from one pole to the other. ''Empetrum nigrum'' grows in

bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and musk ...

s and other acidic soils in shady, moist areas.

Ecology

The moth species '' Glacies coracina'', '' Zygaena exulans'', and '' Hadula melanopa'' feed on the plant. The metabolism and photosynthetic parameters of ''Empetrum'' can be altered in winter-warming experiments. ''Empetrum nigrum'' has allelopathic properties (e.g. hampering seed germination and root extension of other plants) but the strength of these are dependent on the soil type.

Uses

The fruit is edible and can be dried, and may have an acidic taste. In the Alaskan tundra, it is known to have a sweet and slightly tart flavor. It is often mixed with other berries in dishes like pies and puddings. It is abundant in

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

and treasured for its ability to make liqueur, wine, juice, or jelly. In subarctic areas, the plant has been a vital addition to the diet of the

Inuit Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwe ...

and the

Sami Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise ne ...

. It is used to make Alaskan ice cream. The Dena'ina (Tanaina) harvest it for food, sometimes storing in quantity for winter, sometimes mixed with lard or oil. The species can also be grown as a ground cover, or as an

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or ''garden plants'' are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars th ...

in rock gardens, notably the yellow-foliaged

cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...

'Lucia'. The fruit is high in anthocyanin pigment and can be used to make a natural dye.

In culture

The Scottish Highlands

Clan Maclean Clan Maclean (; Scottish Gaelic: ' ) is a Scottish Highlands, Highlands Scottish clan. They are one of the oldest clans in the Scottish Highlands, Highlands and owned large tracts of land in Argyll as well as the Inner Hebrides. Many early Macle ...

's badge is believed to be ''E. nigrum''.Adam; Innes of Learney (1970), pp. 541–543.

Gallery

References

Bibliography

*
Forest Service Fire Ecology
{{Authority control nigrum Plants described in 1753 Greenlandic cuisine Flora of Subarctic America Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Flora of Greenland