uva – grape (Latin)

ursi – bear (Latin)

Native range: North Eurasia, North America

Leaves:

• alternate
• simple
• entire
• obtuse
• slightly revolute (rolled backwards)
• glabrous (smooth/no pubescence)
• 0.5-0.75” long

Flowers:

• inflorescence – cluster on short stalks (terminal racemes)
• flowers small, nodding, pendulous
• 5 petals, fused, urn shaped
• pink & white
• 8–10 stamen

Fruit:

• berry
• small (1/3–1/2”)
• red

Other characteristics:

• red stems
• prostrate shrub
• evergreen

Relevant info:

• sunny areas, drought tolerant
• “kinnikinnick” – Algonquin word meaning smoking mixture
  • Native Americans and later early pioneers smoked dried leaves (alone or mixed with other leaves, tobacco, and/or the dry inner bark of red osier dogwood) in pipes
• Meriwether Lewis described fruits in 1806 to be “tasteless and insipid”
• example cultivars:
  • ‘Massachusetts’ from seed collected in Massachusetts
  • ‘Vancouver Jade’ from Victoria, BC

Ecology & Adaptations:

• Alaska south to CA and New Mexico, east to the Atlantic Coast; circumboreal
• Coastal bluffs and prairies, rocky balds, dry subalpine meadows, and dry coniferous forest
• nectar in flowers attracts pollinators (hummingbirds, bees, thrips)
• mycorrhizal associations aid drought and low nutrient tolerance
• leathery leaves last, which helps conserve nutrients in nutrient-poor soils
• fire tolerant – latent buds on the horizontal stems and dormant buds on the stem base or root crown that allow sprouting of surviving plants or root stems after fire; hard-coated seeds persist in the seedback and help population recover after fire
• fruits resistant to bacteria and fungi but attract animals, which aid in seed dispersal