Bearberries are three species of dwarf shrubs in the genus Arctostaphylos . Unlike the other species of Arctostaphylos (see manzanita), they are adapted to Arctic and subarctic climates, and have a circumpolar distribution in northern North America, Asia and Europe.
The genus name, Arctostaphylos, derives from the Greek arctos ("bear") and staphylos ("bunch of grapes"). [1] The species name, uva-ursi, is from the Latin uva, ("bunch of grapes") and ursus ("bear"), leading to the common name, "bearberry". [1]
In the culture of First Nations people of Canada, the plant is called kinnikinnick , from an Algonquian (possibly a Blackfoot) word for "smoking mixture". [1]
Bearberries grow as low-lying shrubs in soils predominantly composed of sand, gravel, or dunes in the boreal forest. It is less common north of the tree line. [1]
The plant has flexible branches growing up to 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) long covered with red, shredded bark and dark green, oval leaves. [1] Flowers are white or pink, tipped with red, growing in small clusters at the ends of branches, and later maturing into red oval fruits. [1]
The name "bearberry" for the plant derives in part from the edible fruit which is a food for bears. [2] The fruits are gathered as food for humans, and the leaves are used in indigenous herbal medicine. [1]
The alpine bearberry Arctostaphylos alpina (L.) Spreng (syn. Arctous alpinus (L.) Niedenzu) is a procumbent shrub 10–30 cm high (3.9–11.8 in). Berries are dark purple to black. Its distribution is in northern latitudes from Scotland east across Scandinavia, Russia, Alaska, Canada and Greenland; southern limits extend into Europe in the Pyrenees and the Alps, in Asia to the Altay Mountains, and in North America to British Columbia in the west, and Maine and New Hampshire in the United States in the east.
The red bearberry Arctostaphylos rubra (Rehd. & Wilson) Fernald (syn. Arctous rubra (Rehder and E.H. Wilson) Nakai; Arctous alpinus var. ruber Rehd. and Wilson) is a procumbent shrub 10–30 cm high (3.9–11.8 in) with deciduous leaves. Berries are red. Its distribution is in the mountains of Sichuan, southwestern China north and east to eastern Siberia, Alaska and northern Canada, east to northern Quebec.
The berries ripen late in summer and can be eaten raw. [3]
The plant contains diverse phytochemicals, including ursolic acid, tannic acid, gallic acid, some essential oils and resin, hydroquinones (mainly arbutin, up to 17%), tannins (up to 15%), phenolic glycosides and flavonoids. [1] [ better source needed ]
Native American Indians traditionally made use of the plant's leaves, which they gathered in summer and dried for use as a tobacco substitute or mixed with tobacco. [4]
The dried leaves can be used in teas, liquid diffusions, tea bags or tablets for traditional medicine. [5] Bearberry appears to be relatively safe, although large doses may cause nausea, vomiting, fever, chills, back pain and tinnitus. [6] Cautions for use apply during pregnancy, breast feeding, or in people with kidney disease. [5] [7]
The efficacy and safety of bearberry treatment in humans remain unproven, [6] as no clinical trials exist to interpret effects on any disease.
Bearberry was first documented in The Physicians of Myddfai, a 13th-century Welsh herbal. It was also described by Clusius in 1601, and recommended for medicinal use in 1763 by Gerhard and others. It first appeared in the London Pharmacopoeia in 1788.[ citation needed ]
Native Americans use bearberry leaves with tobacco and other herbs in religious ceremonies, both as a smudge (type of incense) or smoked in a sacred pipe carrying the smoker's prayers. [1] Among the ingredients in kinnikinnick were non-poisonous sumac leaves, [8] and the inner bark of certain bushes such as red osier dogwood (silky cornell), [8] chokecherry, and alder, to improve the taste of the bearberry leaf. [9]
Vaccinium vitis-idaea, the lingonberry, partridgeberry, mountain cranberry or cowberry, is a small evergreen shrub in the heath family Ericaceae, that bears edible fruit. It is native to boreal forest and Arctic tundra throughout the Northern Hemisphere, from Europe and Asia to North America. Lingonberries are picked in the wild and used to accompany various dishes, primarily in the Nordic countries. Commercial cultivation is undertaken in the U.S. Pacific Northwest and in the Netherlands.
Manzanita is a common name for many species of the genus Arctostaphylos. They are evergreen shrubs or small trees present in the chaparral biome of western North America, where they occur from Southern British Columbia and Washington to Oregon, California, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas in the United States, and throughout Mexico. Manzanitas can live in places with poor soil and little water. They are characterized by smooth orange or red bark and stiff, twisting branches. There are 105 species and subspecies of manzanita, 95 of which are found in the Mediterranean climate and colder mountainous regions of California, ranging from ground-hugging coastal and mountain species to small trees up to 20 feet (6m) tall. Manzanitas bloom from winter to early spring and carry berries in spring and summer. The berries and flowers of most species are edible.
Arctostaphylos is a genus of plants comprising the manzanitas and bearberries. There are about 60 species of Arctostaphylos, ranging from ground-hugging arctic, coastal, and mountain shrub to small trees up to 6 m tall. Most are evergreen, with small oval leaves 1–7 cm long, arranged spirally on the stems. The flowers are bell-shaped, white or pale pink, and borne in small clusters of 2–20 together; flowering is in the spring. The fruit are small berries, ripening in the summer or autumn. The berries of some species are edible.
Arbutus is a genus of 12 accepted species of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae, native to temperate regions of the Mediterranean, western Europe, the Canary Islands and North America, and commonly called madrones or strawberry trees. The name Arbutus was taken by taxonomists from Latin, where it referred to the species now designated Arbutus unedo.
Arctostaphylos uva-ursi is a plant species of the genus Arctostaphylos widely distributed across circumboreal regions of the subarctic Northern Hemisphere. Kinnikinnick is a common name in Canada and the United States. Growing up to 30 centimetres in height, the leaves are evergreen. The flowers are white to pink and the fruit is a red berry.
Kinnikinnick is a smoking product utilizing either the leaf or inner bark of any of the below plants, typically mixed with other plant materials, such as tobacco and/or berries.
Arctous alpina, the alpine bearberry, mountain bearberry or black bearberry, is a dwarf shrub in the heather family Ericaceae. The basionym of this species is Arbutus alpinaL..
Cornus sericea, the red osier or red-osier dogwood, is a species of flowering plant in the family Cornaceae, native to much of North America. It has sometimes been considered a synonym of the Asian species Cornus alba. Other names include red brush, red willow, redstem dogwood, redtwig dogwood, red-rood, American dogwood, creek dogwood, and western dogwood.
beta-Arbutin, also known as β-arbutin or by its International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients (INCI) name, arbutin, is a glycosylated derivative of hydroquinone. β-Arbutin is naturally present in the leaves and bark of a variety of plants, notably the bearberry plant, Arctostaphylos uva-ursi. Utilized as a biosynthetic active ingredient in topical treatments for skin lightening, β-arbutin is aimed at addressing hyperpigmentation issues. Its mechanism of action involves inhibiting the activity of tyrosinase, an essential enzyme for melanin synthesis in the human skin, thereby leading to a reduction in hyperpigmentation. It is important to distinguish β-arbutin from its structurally similar stereoisomer, α-arbutin, which exhibits similar effects in clinical applications.
Vaccinium crassifolium, the creeping blueberry, is a species of Vaccinium in the heath family. It is native to the four southeastern U.S. states of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. It is an evergreen shrub with shiny dark green to bronze leaves.
Arctostaphylos columbiana is a species of manzanita known by the common name hairy manzanita. It is native to the coast of western North America from northern California to southwestern British Columbia. This large manzanita is a shrub or small tree, usually 1–5 meters tall. It is erect with hairy branches. The leaves are oval-shaped and are usually 2-6 centimeters long and 2-3 wide, pale bluish green, fuzzy on both surfaces, occasionally glandular. The small, white, urn-shaped flowers are borne in bunched inflorescences. The fruit is a red drupe about a centimeter in diameter. The seed requires either fire or consumption by animals in order for germination to occur. This manzanita grows in open, rocky areas. It is sometimes grown as a garden ornamental. Hybrids with Arctostaphylos uva-ursi commonly occur where the two parent species grow in proximity.
Bearberry is three species of shrubs in the genus Arctostaphylos.
Kinnikinnick is a Native American and First Nations herbal smoking mixture, made from a traditional combination of leaves or barks. Recipes for the mixture vary, as do the uses, from social, to spiritual to medicinal.
Arctostaphylos rubra is a species of flowering plant in the heath family and the genus Arctostaphylos, the manzanitas and bearberries. Common names include red fruit bearberry, alpine bearberry, arctic bearberry, red manzanita, and ravenberry. It is native to Eurasia and northern North America from Alaska through most of Canada to Greenland. There is also one population in the contiguous United States, located in the Absaroka Mountains of Wyoming.
Achnatherum richardsonii is a species of grass known by the common names Richardson's needlegrass, spreading needlegrass, and Canada mountain-ricegrass. It is native to northwestern North America, where it is distributed from Alaska and Yukon through the western Canadian provinces south to Colorado.
Epinotia nemorivaga, the bearberry bell, is a species of moth in the family Tortricidae. It is found in Europe and Asia.
Spruce broom rust or yellow witches' broom rust is a fungal plant disease caused by the basidiomycete fungus known as Chrysomyxa arctostaphyli. It occurs exclusively in North America, with the most concentrated outbreaks occurring in northern Arizona and southern Colorado on blue and Engelmann spruce, as well as in Alaska on black and white spruce. This disease alternates its life cycle between two hosts, with the spruce serving as the primary host and bearberry serving as the secondary or alternate host. The name for the disease comes from the distinctive “witches broom”, commonly yellow in color, which forms on the spruce after young needles have been infected. Management must be carried out through physical or mechanical methods, such as the pruning of brooms or the removal of the secondary host from the area, because no chemical control measures have yet been determined to be economically effective. Generally, spruce broom rust is seen as a mostly cosmetic issue, and it is very rarely the direct cause of tree death; however, research has shown a reduction in overall productivity and health of infected trees, making it an important issue for logging and timber companies.
Arctous is a genus of plants referred to by the common name "bearberry", a name sometimes shared with certain species of the related genus Arctostaphylos, in particular, A. uva-ursi. Although the two genera are related, certain characters, such as deciduous, marcescent leaves, rugose-reticulate venation, and finely-toothed leaves are more typical of Arctous than Arctostaphylos.