lingonberry Ericaceae Vaccinium vitis-idaea L. symbol: VAVI Leaf: Alternate, simple, persistent, egg-shaped, 1/2 to 1 inch long, thick, margins slightly revolute, shiny green above, light green beneath and spotted with short stiff brown hairs. Flower: Perfect, one to several small, nodding, pink flowers that grow on short stalks at the ends of twigs; corolla is pink and bell shaped about 1/4 inch long with 4 short lobes, appearing in early summer. Fruit: Bright red berries, 1/4 to 1/3 inch in diameter, edible when ripe in late summer. Twig: Slender and trailing, light brown to yellow in color, root at nodes. Bark: Plants hug the ground so bark is hard to see, branches are minutely pubescent, later splotchy brown. Form: Mat-forming, evergreen, creeping shrub, usually under 3 inches tall. Its slender stems root adventitiously helping to create this form. Looks like: cranberry - small cranberry - kinnikinick Additional Range Information: Vaccinium vitis-idaea is native to North America. Range may be expanded by planting. See states reporting lingonberry. External Links: USDAFS Additional Silvics USDA Plants Database © Copyright 2016, Virginia Tech Dept. of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation, all rights reserved. Photos and text by: John Seiler, Edward Jensen, Alex Niemiera, and John Peterson