Lowbush Cranberry or Lingonberry
Vaccinium vitis-idaea
Ripe berries
Unripe berries – note that the unripe lowbush cranberries in this image are the reddish-white berries on stalks with rounded leaves. The dark blue berry on the plant with spiky leaflets is a crowberry.
Flowers in bloom
Leaves and twigs
Native to the boreal forest and Arctic tundra throughout the Northern Hemisphere, lowbush cranberries are a small evergreen shrub found in tundra and dry places. They flower in mid to late July, and berries ripen in August or after the first frost. Berries are typically gathered after a fall frost, but overwintered fruit can also be gathered in the spring.
Lowbush cranberries are used to make jellies, jams, relishes, and beverages.
Works Cited
Schofield, Janice J. Alaska’s Wild Plants: A Guide to Alaska’s Edible Harvest (Alaska Northwest Books: Seattle, WA), 1997. 39.
Leslie A. Viereck and Elbert L. Little, Jr. Alaska Trees and Shrubs University of Alaska Press: Fairbanks, AK, 1972, 233.
Image Credits
Images have been cropped and resized
Ripe berries
🅭2025 Krzysztof Ziarnek, CC BY-SA 4.0
Unripe berries
🅭2023 Gilles Ayotte, Laval University, CC BY-SA 4.0
Flower in bloom
🅭2014 Alpsdake, CC BY-SA 4.0
Leaf and twig structure
🅮2006 Jonas Bergsten, public domain
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