Classification and its Physical Appearance
Classification
Common Name: Bearberry, Foxberry or Kinnikinnick
Other common names: Arberry, Bear's Grape, Crowberry, Hog Cranberry, Mealberry, Mountain Box, Mountain Cranberry, Mountain Tobacco, Sagakomi, Sandberry, Upland Cranberry, Uva-Ursi Scientific Name: Arctostaphylos
Kingdom: Plants
Phylum: Vascular
Class: Magnoliopsida, the Dicotyledons
Order: Ericales
Family: Ericaceae
Genus:Arctostaphylos
Species:Uva-ursi
Taxonomic Serial Number:23530
Physical Description
Grows very short with short stalk
Evergreen plant
Trailing stem is 2-8 inches from the ground
Thick bark with fine, silky hair
Leathery, spatula-shaped leaves of up to 1 inch long
Flowers are bell-shaped; either pink or white with 5 curled-up petals
Flowers usually bloom between March and June
The fruit on the plants are red berries that are 1/4"-1/2" in diameter
Each fruit contains four or five individual nuts
Roots are 4-6 inches in depth
Native Continent and its Habitat
Bearberries grow in a diversity of areas in which there is dry, non-nutrient, well-drained soils such as sand, soils with many rocks and shallow soils. Therefore, bearberries are found in a wide range of locations, especially in North America such as northern California and Alaska, Greenland, Iceland, throughout north Europe and Asia as well as alpine regions like mountains in west Montana. This plant is native to Europe, Asia, North America which is why bearberries are abundant in the northern parts of the world’s vegetation.
Adaptations that Allow for Success
The bearberry plants have made many adaptations that allow for success in their tundra biome. It is a very short plant which helps it avoid the substandard climate. Compromising of thick, weather-beaten leaves covered in fine, silky hair is another adaptation to the freezing temperatures.
Reproduction and Development
Bearberries use asexual reproduction and hence, the seeds are distributed by either animals and gravity. The new seeds start off with a hard coat as the outer layer of the seed and dormant (inactive) embryos. The seeds’ growth is slow for around the first three or so years before it increases. Bearberry plants which originated naturally as seedlings exist rarely. Flowers appear early summer, between May and June, before small leaves emerge. Red, smooth and glossy bearberry seeds ripen in autumn and are the size of a small currant, very bright, with a tough skin encircling the pulp. These seeds are largely pollinated by the wind.
Interesting Relationships (interdependence, symbiosis, economical significance)
Bearberries are a very useful with many economical significances. All parts components in the plants’ structure can be used in some way. For example, the red berry fruits can be eaten and cooked with a variety of other foods. The roots can be made into a tea that is capable of treating medical purposes such as continuous coughs and may also slow down menstrual bleeding. A tea made from the plants’ stem is also used to avoid miscarriages and fasten recovery periods of a woman after a child is born. Bearberry leaves are also used as a substitution form of tobacco or include in tobacco ingredients. If the leaves are made into a different form of tea, it is able to cure kidney and bladder problems. It is clearly demonstrated the fact that bearberries play a significant role in the medical economy.
Some benefits of bearberries are that it covers ground for difficult landscapes, provides berries for birds and flowers for insects as well as it being low maintenance and salt and wind tolerant.
A long time ago, Native Americans tended to use this plant to cure medical problems in the urinal system like kidney stones and nephritis (kidney inflammation). Nevertheless, large intakes of this may result in nausea or strange side effects of turning the urine green.
Many migratory birds and mammals also rely on bearberries as food like songbirds, gamebirds, five species of grouse and Wild Turkey and mammals such as polar bears. This is an example of Amensalism.