Bearberry
- berries are dry and mealy, clustered 3-10
- berry has white pulp, 4 yellow nutlets
- leaf is spatsula-shaped
- creeping shrub is about half a foot high
WARNING:
The berries may cause nausea, constipation, and, eventually, liver problems. They should not be eaten by children or pregnant/breastfeeding women.
Pictures ():
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Look-alikes in Ontario
The similar-looking bearberry cotoneaster (Cotoneaster dammeri) is a dense, creeping garden shrub that produces inedible berries. It differs in that it grows over a foot tall and the berries occur along the trailing stems rather than at the branch tips. The rare red bearberry (Arctostaphylos rubra) and alpine bearberry (Arctostaphylos alpina) occur in the Hudson Bay Lowlands. They produce edible red and reddish black berries, respectively, but differ in that the leaves are thinner and turn red in the fall.
See also lingonberry.
See also lingonberry.