Oxycoccus microcarpos Turcz. ex Rupr.
(Vaccinium oxycoccos L.)
ox-ee-KOH-kus  mye-kroh-KARP-os
vak-SIN-ee-um (alt. vak-SIN-ih-um)  ox-ee-KOH-kos

Ericaceae (Heath Family)

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Definitions

* Note: Widely spaced, not occurring in large numbers. Hulten spelled the species Oxycoccus microcarpus. The Integrated Taxonomic Information System uses Oxycoccus microcarpos and uses Oxycoccus macrocarpus for the commercial cranberry. These species are now Vaccinium oxycoccos and Vaccinium macrocarpon. Additional common names: small cranberry, wild cranberry and marsh whortleberry.

* Stem: Stems very slender, low creeping vinelike through the moss, rooting at the nodes, dwarf shrub, finely hairy to smooth, brown or black, 4" to 16" long.

* Flower: 4 to 5 deep pink, nodding, petals sharply bent backwards, stamens protrude, looks like a miniature shooting star, often solitary, 2 to 3 on slender threadlike long stem.

* Fruit: Pale pink to dark red or maroon, translucent, juicy berry, lying on the mossy ground like a jewel.

* Leaves: Triangular or egg shaped, alternate, evergreen, leathery, small, thick, hard, sharp pointed with edges rolled under, gray waxy or whitish beneath, dark green above.

* Habitat: Low to middle elevations and wet subalpine meadows, half buried in sphagnum hummocks of bogs.

* Uses: Can be eaten raw or cooked and used in any way commercial cranberries can.  The berries may be used as a dye and to bleach the skin and remove a faded tan. Drink cranberry juice for colds, bleeding gums, poor appetite, gall bladder problems and urinary tract infections. Concentrated pulp has eased asthmatic attacks.