Common Bearberry

Today I visited the Snowy Range, driving as high as possible in the wintertime. Parking in the last small lot before the road closure gate, I found the pavement to be mostly dry and free from snow.  The forested areas to the north, however, had a couple feet of snow, so I went for a nice snowshoe up through the trees. At one point I climbed to a ridge--with a great view of Medicine Bow Peak and the Snowies--that was practically bare of snow. I removed my snowshoes and walked for a while, noticing the ground cover. Along with some mosses and lichens and common juniper, I found spreading mats of common bearberry, Arctostaphylos uva-ursi. The Latin means 'bear grape', because the berries of this shrub are an important food source for bears.

I was very surprised to still see some of the bright red berries on the shrub, but rook.org's flora webpage states that the berries that have not been devoured by bears and birds in the fall often survive until spring, generally protected under the snow.  Bears are quite happy to eat them again when they emerge from hibernation.

Bearberry is one of my favorite native shrubs.  The shiny green leaves are pretty year-round, and the red berries are festive.  When the plant blooms in May or June, the flowers are beautiful, dainty, pink bunches.

I have often heard this plant referred to as kinnikinnick, but several websites indicated that that term does not refer solely to this plant.  Kinnikinnick is really an Algonquan word meaning mixture, since some Indians enjoyed smoking a blend of bearberry and tobacco.