Empetrum nigrum 'Crowberry'

Ericaceae: A mat-forming, heather-like evergreen undershrub with stems that are reddish when young. Found on upland moors on damp, acid ground. The flowers are tiny and pinkish, appearing from May-June. The fruit are shiny and black, and ripen in late summer. The leaves are narrow and dark green. Locally common but only in Northern Britain. Native to Europe, including Britain, Iceland to the Pyrenees, east to Siberia and Bulgaria and North America.

USES:

The fruit can be eaten raw or cooked, they taste slightly acidic or insipid, but this improves after a frost. It is mainly used for making drinks, pies, preserves. The Inuit dry or freeze them for winter use. The fruit can hang on the plant all winter. The fruit is about 7.5mm in diameter. A tea can be made from the twigs.

The leafy branches have been used, especially for children with a fever, as a diuretic. It has also been used to treat kidney problems. A decoction or infusion of the stems, or the cooked berries, have been used in the treatment of diarrhoea. A decoction of the leaves and stems, mixed with Hudson Bay tea and young spruce tree tips, has been used in the treatment of colds. A decoction of the roots has been used as an eyewash to remove a growth.

GROWING INFORMATION:

Easily grown in a lime-free soil, preferring a moist sandy peaty soil and some shade. Plants are usually dioecious though hermaphrodite forms are known. Male and female plants will normally need to be grown if fruit and seed are required. Surface sow seeds in autumn or early spring. The seed can be very slow to germinate, sometimes requiring 5 months warm then 3 months cold stratification at 5°c. I find a soak in a solution of GA3 [Gibberellic acid] does help speed things up. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts.

HARVESTED: 2019

 
APPROX. 100 SEEDS