Mountain Cranberry

Scientific name

Vaccinium vitis-idaea

Description

The Mountain Cranberry is a short, evergreen shrub species that can grow up to 0.5 m in height. This plant may also be known by the common names: Cowberry or Lingonberry. The leaves are green, thick, ovate to elliptic shaped, are alternately arranged, and have black dots on the underside. The flowers are bell shaped, have four lobes, are whitish red in colour, appear on terminal racemes, and bloom from June to July. These flowers produce small, bright to dark red, shiny berries by the Fall, which are edible to humans. The fruit and flowers of Mountain Cranberry are beneficial to many wildlife species, like birds and bears, as well as pollinator species, like bees and butterflies.

Planting conditions

Mountain Cranberry grows best in moist soil with full or partial sun exposure. It prefers shallow, sand or loam soil type with an acidic pH level. This shrub can tolerate acidity, extreme cold, shallow soil, and low nutrients. However, it will not tolerate alkalinity. This plant can be found naturally in open forests, rocky barrens, mountain ledges, cliffs, peatlands, and bogs.

Details

• Plant height:
  • Max 1.5m
  • Max 2m
  • Max 3m
  • Any
• Moisture level:
  • Moist
• Light conditions:
  • Full sun
  • Partial sun
• Soil type:
  • Sandy
  • Loamy
  • Humus
  • Rocky
• pH:
  • Acidic
  • Normal
• Depth:
  • Potted
• Eco Zone:
  • 0b
  • 1a
  • 1b
  • 2a
  • 2b
  • 3a
  • 3b
  • 4a
• Plant type:
  • Shrub
• Height:
  • 0.5 m
• Spread:
  • 1 m