Crowberry (Empetrum nigrum). An alpine or arctic plant of the
northern hemisphere and the Andes that is suitable for rock gardens or
moist, shady spots in the garden, the crowberry or black crowberry is an
evergreen, mat forming shrub that grows only a foot or so high. Its
blackberries, about ¼ inch in diameter, taste like turpentine to some,
built have a nice, slightly acid flavor to others. Once crowberries were
used as a medicine to prevent scurvy and were made into a beverage with
sour milk, not a particularly appetizing thought to me. There are five
species of the genus, none varying greatly except for the color of the
berries, which can also be red of purple. All need a strongly acid soil of
pH4 to 5 and wont stand prolonged summer heat, for they extend in range to
the Artic Circle. They can be propagated by midsummer cuttings inserted in
sandy peat in a cold frame.
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