crowberry Empetraceae Empetrum nigrum

Leaf:Evergreen, fleshy or plump, 1/8 to 1/4 inch long and somewhat needle-like but with a blunt tip, borne on short petioles; overall resembling a bottlebrush.
Flower:Species is mostly dioecious, but a recognized subspecies (hermaphroditum) is monoecious; pink and urn-shaped; appearing in small clusters in the spring.
Fruit:Up to 1/2 inch round (but commonly smaller), black or sometimes dark purple; ripening in the fall and persisting into winter.
Twig:Slender, green to reddish brown and sparsely tomentose; buds are small and valvate.
Bark:Reddish brown.
Form:A low-growing and creeping shrub to 6 inches tall.
leaf fruit twig bark form map
Notes: