Empetrum nigrum L.
crowberry (black crowberry)
Ericaceae (Crowberry family)
(Previously in Empetraceae)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
crowberry (black crowberry)
Ericaceae (Crowberry family)
(Previously in Empetraceae)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
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Species Information
General:
Evergreen shrub; stems somewhat decumbent, more or less woolly-hairy, freely branching, 15-30 cm long.
Leaves:
Alternate, evergreen, linear to almost needle-like, in whorls of 4, 3-8 mm long, glandular-hairy, margins rolled under, lower surface grooved.
Flowers:
Inflorescence of 2-3 inconspicuous flowers in the leaf axils, subtended by 3 scaly bracts smaller than the sepals; petals 0-3, purplish, 3 mm long; sepals 3, brownish.
Fruits:
Berry-like drupes, fleshy, purplish-black, globular, 4-5 mm long; seeds 2-9, white, stonelike.
Illustration
If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
USDA Species Characteristics
Flower Colour:
Purple
Blooming Period:
Mid Summer
Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: Black
Present over the Summer
Source: The USDA
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Empetrum nigrum
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
| Site Information |
Value / Class |
||
|
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
| Elevation
(metres) |
1193 | 0 | 2410 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
14 | 0 | 172 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
343 | 0 | 360 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
4 | 0 | 8 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
B | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
2339 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
ESSF | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
AT(11), bafa(112), BWBS(284), CMA(13), CWH(303), ESSF(564), ICH(22), IDF(1), IMA(27), MH(84), MS(269), SBPS(75), SBS(162), SWB(260) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Wet to moist bogs, meadows, open forests, alpine fellfields and cliffs in the lowland to alpine zones; frequent throughout BC; circumpolar, N to AK, YT and NT, E to NF and S to NY, MN and N CA; Eurasia.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Empetrum atropurpureum Fernald & Wiegand
Empetrum nigrum var. atropurpureum (Fernald & Wiegand) B. Boivin
Empetrum nigrum var. purpureum (Raf.) A. DC.
Empetrum rubrum var. atropurpureum (Fernald & Wiegand) R. Good