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.
Open sheet →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.