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|image_caption=Foliage and fruit of var. ''vitis-idaea''
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'''''Vaccinium vitis-idaea''''' ('''Cowberry''' [Europe]<ref name="Flora">Interactive Flora of Northwest Europe: [http://ip30.eti.uva.nl/BIS/flora.php?selected=beschrijving&menuentry=soorten&id=2451 ''Vaccinium vitis-idaea'']</ref> or '''Lingonberry''' [North America];<ref name="USDA">USDA Plants Profile: [http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=VAVI ''Vaccinium vitis-idaea'']</ref> see below for other names) is a small [[evergreen]] [[shrub]] in the [[flowering plant]] family [[Ericaceae]] that bears edible [[fruit]].
The native habitat is the circumboreal [[forest]]s of northern [[Eurasia]] and [[North America]], extending from [[temperate climate|cool temperate]] into [[subarctic climate|subarctic]] climates. It is seldom cultivated, but the fruit are commonly collected in the wild.
''Vaccinium vitis-idaea'' typically grows to 10–40 cm in height and has a compact spreading habit, often forming extensive dense [[clonal colony|clonal colonies]] spreading by underground [[rhizomes]]. The stems are light brown. The leaves are oval, 5–30 mm long, with an entire margin and often a notched apex. The [[flower]]s are bell-shaped, white to pale pink, 3–8 mm long, and produced in the early summer. The fruit, actually a [[false berry]], is red, 6–10 mm diameter, with an acidic taste, ripening in late summer to autumn.<ref name="Flora"/><ref name="FNA">Flora of North America: [http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=200016732 ''Vaccinium vitis-idaea'']</ref>
The plant is only semi-woody but keeps its leaves all winter even in the coldest years, unusual for a broadleaf plant, though they are usually protected from severe cold by [[snow]] cover. It is extremely hardy, tolerating −40 °C or lower, but grows poorly where summers are hot. It prefers some shade (as from a forest canopy) and constantly moist, [[acid]]ic soil. Nutrient-poor soils are tolerated but not [[base (chemistry)|alkaline]] soils.
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Vaccinium vitis-idaea, Linn. (Vitis-Idaea Vitis-Idaea, Brit.). Mountain Cranberry. Cowberry. Partridge Berry in the N. Foxberry. Fig. 3895. Plants low, 6-10 in. long, creeping, glabrous: lvs. coriaceous, evergreen, obovate or oval, 1/4 – 3/4 in. long obtuse, dark green and shining above, with blackish bristly points beneath: fls. in short subterminal racemes; corolla bell-shaped, white or rose-colored, 4-cleft: berries dark red, acid. Arctic region, to the coast and mountains of New England, Minn., and Brit. Col. L.B.C. 7:616 (as var. major); 11:1023 (as var. minor).—"The frs., which are rather larger than currants, acid and somewhat bitter when uncooked, are largely used in the more northern regions for tarts, jellies, and preserves, or as a substitute for the common cranberry. According to Macoun, the fishermen's families along the Gaspe coast and the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence gather the fr. of this species in large quantities for their own use and for sale, calling it 'low-bush cranberry.' Throughout the whole of N. Canada, hunters and trappers, as well as the native Indians, have frequently to depend upon it for food. It is valuable for the shrubbery border, where the strong contrast of the dark green foliage and the bright colored persistent fr. is very striking."
Vaccinium vitis-idaea, Linn. (Vitis-Idaea Vitis-Idaea, Brit.). Mountain Cranberry. Cowberry. Partridge Berry in the N. Foxberry. Plants low, 6-10 in. long, creeping, glabrous: lvs. coriaceous, evergreen, obovate or oval, 1/4 – 3/4 in. long obtuse, dark green and shining above, with blackish bristly points beneath: fls. in short subterminal racemes; corolla bell-shaped, white or rose-colored, 4-cleft: berries dark red, acid. Arctic region, to the coast and mountains of New England, Minn., and Brit. Col.—"The frs., which are rather larger than currants, acid and somewhat bitter when uncooked, are largely used in the more northern regions for tarts, jellies, and preserves, or as a substitute for the common cranberry. According to Macoun, the fishermen's families along the Gaspe coast and the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence gather the fr. of this species in large quantities for their own use and for sale, calling it 'low-bush cranberry.' Throughout the whole of N. Canada, hunters and trappers, as well as the native Indians, have frequently to depend upon it for food. It is valuable for the shrubbery border, where the strong contrast of the dark green foliage and the bright colored persistent fr. is very striking."
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==Cultivars==
==Varieties==
There are two very similar regional [[variety (biology)|varieties]] or [[subspecies]] of ''Vaccinium vitis-idaea'', one in Eurasia and one in North America; they differ in leaf size, though with some overlap:
*''Vaccinium vitis-idaea'' var. ''vitis-idaea'' L. (syn. ''Vaccinium vitis-idaea'' subsp. ''vitis-idaea''). '''Cowberry'''. Eurasia. Leaves 10–30 mm long.<ref name="Flora"/>
*''Vaccinium vitis-idaea'' var. ''minus'' Lodd. (syn. ''Vaccinium vitis-idaea'' subsp. ''minus'' (Lodd.) Hultén). '''Lingonberry'''. North America. Leaves 5–18 mm long.<ref name="FNA"/>
==Gallery==
==Gallery==
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File:Vaccinium vitis-idaea.jpg| photo 1
File:Vaccinium vitis-idaea L..jpg| photo 2
Image:Upload.png| photo 3
Image:Upload.png| photo 3
</gallery>
</gallery>
