202 HOW TO KNOW WILD FRUITS 



BLACK CROWBERRY 



Empetrum nigrum Crowberry Family 



Fruit. The black drupe is berrylike, globu- 

 lar, and incloses six to nine seedlike nutlets with 

 a seed in each. The calyx is at the base and 

 the stigma is at the apex. The drupes are 

 solitary in the leaf axils. They are juicy, acid, 

 edible, and serve as food for the Arctic birds. 



Leaves. The linear-oblong leaves roll their 

 edges backward until they meet. They are 

 dark green, thick, obtuse, and crowded along the 

 branches. Evergreen. 



Flowers. The purplish dioecious flowers are 

 small and solitary in the upper axils. The 

 stamens are much exserted. 



The Black Crowberry appears south to the 

 coast of Maine, the higher mountains of New 

 England, in northern New York, Michigan, and 

 California. It is a native also of Europe and 

 Asia. It is a much-branched shrub, low, densely 

 leafy, and grows in thick beds. 



