Bearberry
Arctostaphylos uva-ursi
Family · Ericaceae · Irritating
The low woody carpet of the high sierras, with leathery leaves and glossy red berries. It looks like a strawberry tree that stayed on the ground, and it is indeed in the same family.
Uplands · Scrubland · Pine woods
Also known askinnikinnick, common bearberry
How to tell it
Prostrate, forming dense mats over rock and poor soil. Small, oval, leathery, glossy leaves with a smooth margin, evergreen. White-pink bell flowers. Glossy red berries, dry and mealy inside. Range: mainly a Spanish plant, practically absent from Portugal.
What it is confused with
Strawberry tree
Arbutus unedo
Same family and red fruit on both. Strawberry tree is a tree with a bumpy juicy fruit; bearberry is prostrate, with a smooth, dry, mealy fruit.
What it is for
A European medicinal plant with a long tradition in urinary infusions, today with registered pharmacy preparations. A note that stays on the sheet: it contains arbutin and tannins in quantity, is not used for more than a few days running, and is not used in pregnancy. The berries are edible but dry and tasteless, and not worth picking.
With documented traditional uses. Not a therapeutic indication and not a dose.
The law says
A protected species in several regions and subject to commercial harvesting restrictions. Do not tear up the mat to gather leaves.
Where it occurs
Each square is an area with recorded observations of this plant. The lighter background is the set of areas where any of the entries has been observed, and serves as a reference. Note what this is not: it is not where the plant lives, it is where people record it, so trails and towns always look fuller than the mountains. Data from GBIF.
Sources
Community
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