Bearberry - Definition and Overview

Bearberries are three species of dwarf shrubs in the genus Arctostaphylos. Unlike the other species of Arctostaphylos (see Manzanita), they are adapted to arctic and sub-arctic climates, and have a circumpolar distribution in northern North America, Asia and Europe, one with a small highly disjunct population in Central America. The name bearberry derives from the edible fruit, said to be greatly enjoyed by bears. Other names include Kinnikinnick and Mealberry. The fruit, also called bearberries, are edible and sometimes gathered for food. The leaves of the plant are used in herbal medicine.

• Alpine Bearberry - A. alpina (L.) Spreng (syn. Arctous alpinus (L.) Niedenzu). A procumbent shrub 10-30 cm high. Leaves not winter green, but dead leaves persist on stems for several years. Berries dark purple to black. Distribution: circumpolar, at high latitudes, from Scotland east across Scandinavia, Russia, Alaska, Canada and Greenland; southern limits in Europe in the Pyrenees and the Alps, in Asia to the Altai mountains, and in North America to British Columbia in the west, and Maine and New Hampshire in the US in the east.

• Red Bearberry - A. rubra (Rehd. & Wilson) Fernald (syn. Arctous rubra (Rehder and E.H. Wilson) Nakai; Arctous alpinus var. ruber Rehd. and Wilson). A procumbent shrub 10-30 cm high. Leaves deciduous, falling in autumn to leave bare stems. Berries red. Distribution: in the mountains of Sichuan, southwestern China north and east to eastern Siberia, Alaska and northern Canada east to northern Quebec.

• Common Bearberry - A. uva-ursi (L.) Spreng. A procumbent shrub 10-30 cm high. Leaves evergreen, remaining green for 1-3 years before falling. Berries red. Distribution: circumpolar, widespread in northern latitudes, confined to high altitudes further south. In Europe, from Iceland and North Cape, Norway south to southern Spain (Sierra Nevada), central Italy (Apennines) and northern Greece (Pindus mountains); in Asia from arctic Siberia south to Turkey, the Caucasus and the Himalaya; in North America from arctic Alaska, Canada and Greenland south to California, north coast, central High Sierra Nevada (above Convict Lake, Mono County, California), Central Coast, California, San Francisco Bay Area, to New Mexico in the Rocky Mountains; and the Appalachian Mountains in the northeast United States.
  • Common Bearberry - A. uva-ursi subsp. uva-ursi. Circumpolar.
  • A. uva-ursi subsp. adenotricha. central High Sierra Nevada.
  • A. uva-ursi subsp. coactilis. north coast California, central coast California, San Francisco Bay Area.
  • Guatemala Bearberry - A. uva-ursi subsp. cratericola (J. D. Smith) P. V. Wells. Endemic to Guatemala at very high altitudes (3000-4000 m).

See also manzanita for other species in the same genus.