Sunday, February 12, 2012

Green in Winter: Bearberry - Plant Quiz

Good call Kim! It is Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, Bearberry. In Indiana, this plant is frequent near Lake Michigan in the dune country. Photographed in Porter County, Indiana on February 11, 2012.
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Can you identify this plant? It is green (and sometimes reddish) in winter. Good luck!

5 comments:

Mike Whittemore said...

Vaccinium macrocarpon? Looks very similar in color and morphology to cranberry I see around this time of year back home in MA.

Keith Board said...

Thanks Mike. That is an excellent try, but it is not Cranberry, Vaccinium macrocarpon. These leaves are larger - maybe 2 to 3 cm in length. But that's a guess - I didn't measure them.

Anonymous said...

Arctostaphylos uva-ursi?

Kim

Pete said...

Looks like kinnikinnick to me.

Keith Board said...

Good call, Pete. Yes, it is also known as kinnikinnick, which almost certainly means our native peoples smoked it.