Vaccinium macrocarpon

Cranberry

Family: Ericaceae · Type: shrub · Not Native

Cranberry is a naturalized shrub found in northern Sierra Nevada at elevations around 900 meters in boggy soil at an abandoned placer mine. Flowering from June to July, this plant produces white to pink flowers with petals that dramatically reflex when anthers open. Growing with prostrate and erect stems less than 15 centimeters tall that root easily, it has a distinctive rhizomatous growth pattern. Its evergreen leaves are narrowly elliptic to oblong, 7 to 17 millimeters long, with a leathery texture and glaucous undersides. The fruit is a bright red berry approximately 9 to 14 millimeters in diameter.

Habitat: Boggy soil at abandoned placer mine

Bloom period: Jun-Jul

Elevation: +- 900 m.

Bioregions: n SNH (near North Columbia, n Nevada Co.)

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.