Scientific Name:
Empetrum nigrum
Pronunciation:
EM-pe-trum NYE-grum
Common Name:
crowberry, crawberry
Family Name:
Ericaceae
Plant Type:
Broadleaf evergreen, Ground cover
Key ID Features:
Habit creeping, matted, to 15cm tall; branches to 40cm long; leaves needle-like, to 8mm long, edges rolled under forming a deep groove; fruit, black, berry-like drupes, with 6-9 white pyrenes.
Habit:
Irregular, Spreading
Form:
Creeping / Mat-like
Texture:
Fine
Mature Height:
0.1 - 0.2m
Mature Spread:
0.3 - 0.6m
Origin:
B.C. east of Cascades, B.C. west of Cascades, Canada - northern, U.S. - northwest (circumpolar, N to AK, YT and NT, E to NF and S to NY, MN and N CA; Eurasia.)
Hardiness Rating:
Zone 2: (-46 to -40 °C)
Exposure:
Part sun/part shade, Filtered shade
Soil/Growing Medium:
Acidic
Water Use:
Wetlands
Landscape Uses:
Attract beneficial insects, Attract birds, Attract butterflies, Ground cover, Wetland - bogs
Additional Info:
Leaf Morphology:
Form:
Needle-like
Arrangement:
Alternate
Texture/Venation:
Succulent
Surfaces:
Colour in Summer:
Dark-green
Colour in Fall:
Dark-green
Shapes:
Linear
Apices:
Rounded
Bases:
Truncate
Margins:
Entire
Additional Info:
3-8mm long; margins rolled; glandular hairy
Inflorescence Type:
Flowers solitary
Flower Morphology:
Dioecious plant
Number Of Petals:
3
Corolla Shape:
Rotate/stellate
Ovary Position:
Superior
Colour (petals):
Not showy, Purple, Dark-red (purplish-crimson)
Flower Time at Peak:
May, Jun
Additional Info:
in leaf axils; 3 stamens; 3 petals; 5 sepals (not radially symmetric)
Fruit Type:
Drupe, Edible
Fruit Colour:
Purple, Black
Fruiting Time:
Aug, Sep
Additional Info:
Showy, Edible, insipid; berry like drupe fruit
Bark or Stem Colour:
Pest Susceptibility:
(Drought tolerant)
Course(s):
- HORT 2355
Location(s):
- (TFL) Turf Field Lab : under Cornus mas at roundabout
- (TFLS) Turf Field Lab South