Empetrum nigrum
| Empetrum nigrum | |
| Light: |   |
| Moisture: |  |
| Hardiness: | 3 |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-7.3 |
| Evergreen Cross Pollinated | |
| Height: | 1' |
| Width: | 2' |
| Blooms: | Late Spring-Early Summer |
| Native to: | |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Medicinal Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
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Empetrum nigrum (common name: crowberry)
Propagation: Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in a cold frame. The seed can be very slow to germinate, stored seed requires 5 months warm then 3 months cold stratification at 5°c[1]. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts.
Cuttings of half-ripe wood, 3cm with a heel, July/August in a frame. Takes 3 weeks. Good percentage[2][1].
Cuttings of mature wood of the current year's growth, 3cm with a heel, October in a frame. Requires shade. Good percentage[2][1].
Cultivation: A calcifuge plant, it is easily grown in a lime-free soil[1]. Prefers a moist sandy peaty soil and some shade[3][4].
The two names var. 'Rubrum' and var. 'Purpureum' are of doubtful application to this species and may refer to E. eamesii[1].
Plants are usually dioecious though hermaphrodite forms are known. Male and female plants will normally need to be grown if fruit and seed are required.
Range: Europe, including Britain, Iceland to the Pyrenees, east to Siberia and Bulgaria and also N. America
Habitat: Moors and mountain tops, and in the drier parts of blanket bogs[5].
Edibility: Fruit - raw or cooked[3][6][4][7][8]. It can taste slightly acid or insipid[9]. Not very desirable[10], it tastes best after a frost[11]. A watery flavour, it is mainly used for making drinks, pies, preserves etc[12]. The Inuit dry or freeze them for winter use[12]. The fruit can hang on the plant all winter[11]. The fruit is about 7.5mm in diameter[1].
A tea can be made from the twigs[12].
Medicinal: The leafy branches have been used, especially for children with a fever, as a diuretic[13]. It has also been used to treat kidney problems[13].
A decoction or infusion of the stems, or the cooked berries, have been used in the treatment of diarrhoea[13].
A decoction of the leaves and stems, mixed with Hudson Bay tea and young spruce tree tips, has been used in the treatment of colds[13].
A decoction of the roots has been used as an eyewash to remove a growth[13].
Usage: A purple dye is obtained from the fruit[14].
Can be used for groundcover in exposed locations[1]. Plants should be spaced about 25cm apart each way[15].
Pollinators: Bees, flies, lepidoptera
Soil: Can grow in light, medium, and heavy soils.
Drainage: Prefers well drained soil.
Wind: Tolerates strong winds
In Leaf: Evergreen
Seed Ripens: Early Fall
Flower Type: Dioecious
Links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Huxley, Anthony. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. MacMillan Press, 1992.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Sheat, Wilfrid. Propagation of Trees, Shrubs and Conifers. St Martin, 1948.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Chittendon, Fred. RHS Dictionary of Plants. Oxford University Press, 1951.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Simmons, Alan. Growing Unusual Fruit. David and Charles, 1972.
- ↑ Clapham, Arthur and Tom Tootin, Edmund Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press, 1962.
- ↑ Hedrick, Ulysses. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications, 1972.
- ↑ Mabey, Richard. Food for Free. Collins, 1974.
- ↑ Frohne, Dietrich and Hans Pfänder. J. A Colour Atlas of Poisonous Plants. Timber Press, 1984.
- ↑ Turner, Nancy. Edible Wild Fruits and Nuts of Canada. National Museum of Natural Sciences, 1978.
- ↑ Bean, William. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Murray, 1981.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Schofield, Janice. Discovering Wild Plants.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Facciola, Stephen. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications, 1990.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 Moerman, Daniel. Native American Ethnobotany. Timber Press, 1998.
- ↑ Sowerby, John. The Useful Plants of Great Britain. 1862.
- ↑ Thomas, Graham. Plants for Ground Cover. Everyman, 1990.