Vaccinium oxycoccos
Vaccinium oxycoccos is a species of cranberry in the heath family. It is known as small cranberry, marshberry, bog cranberry, swamp cranberry, or just cranberry. It occurs broadly across cooler climates in the temperate Northern Hemisphere.
Description
This cranberry is a small, prostrate shrub with vine-like stems that root at the nodes. The evergreen leaves are leathery and lance-shaped, up to long. The stems are a few centimeters tall, upon which are one to a few nodding flowers with four-petals. The corolla is white or pink and flexed backward away from the center of the flower. The fruit is a pink or red berry which has spots when young. It measures up to wide. The plant forms mycorrhizal associations. It mainly reproduces vegetatively. Its fruit persists for an average of 200 days, and bears an average of 7 seeds per fruit. Fruits average 86.4% water, and their dry weight includes 4.2% carbohydrates and 1.8% lipids.Distribution and habitat
Vaccinium oxycoccos is a widespread and common species occurring broadly across cooler climates in the temperate Northern Hemisphere, including northern Europe, northern Asia and northern North America.It is an indicator of moist to wet soils which are low in nitrogen and have a high water table. It is an indicator of coniferous swamps. It grows in bogs and fens in moist forest habitat. It grows on peat which may be saturated most of the time. The soil in bogs is acidic and low in nutrients. The plant's mycorrhizae help it obtain nutrients in this situation. Fens have somewhat less acidic soil, which is also higher in nutrients. The plant can often be found growing on hummocks of Sphagnum mosses.