Empetrum nigrum

A dwarf shrub like mats, 0-1-0.5 m tall, 0.4 m wide or more; prostrate, flatly extended, dense like a carpet, slow-growing.

Dioecious, inconspicuous light pink or light crimson, end of April to June.

Pea-size, shiny berries, changing colour in August, sweet/sour to bitter taste, edible in winter, not poisonous.

Evergreen, needle-shaped, linear, like herbaceous heaths, shiny fresh green.

Flat roots, tolerates filling with loose substrates, especially sand.

Sun to light shade, likes cool to humid areas.

Fresh to moist, quite sensitive to long dry spells, acidic to slightly alkaline, prefers poor soil, likes all well drained peat, bog, sandy-humic or sandy-loamy substrates.

Zone 2