bearberry

English

Etymology

bear +‎ berry

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈbɛəb(ə)ɹi/

Noun

bearberry (plural bearberries)

1. Any of four dwarf shrubs of formerly all members of the genus Arctostaphylos, three now assigned to genus Arctous, which principally grow in arctic and subarctic regions and bear edible berries.
   • 1952, Farley Mowat, People of the Deer, Key Porter, published 2005, page 26:

     Sometimes she scrabbled through the drifts on hilltops and found a few wizened bearberries or a handful of rock-tripe, a kind of moss.

   1. common bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi).
   2. alpine bearberry, mountain bearberry, black bearberry (Arctous alpina, syn. Arctostaphylos alpinus)
   3. red bearberry (Arctous rubra, syn. Arctostaphylos rubra)
   4. A similar berry of temperate south-central China (Arctous microphylla).
2. Pacific madrone (Arbutus menziesii).

Synonyms

• (Arctostaphylos): bear's-grape, uva ursi

Derived terms

• mountain bearberry (Arctostaphylos alpina)

Translations

the genus Arctostaphylos

• Danish: melbærris
• Finnish: sianpuolukka (fi)
• German: Bärentraube (de) f
• Kazakh: аюжидек (aüjidek)
• Polish: mącznica (pl) f
• Russian: толокня́нка (ru) f (toloknjánka)
• Swedish: mjölon (sv)

the species Arctostaphylos uva-ursi

• Bulgarian: мечо грозде (mečo grozde)
• Catalan: boixerola f
• Danish: hede-melbærris
• Finnish: sianpuolukka (fi)
• French: bearberry (fr)
• German: echte Bärentraube f
• Lakota: waȟpé čhaŋlí
• Navajo: dinas
• Norwegian: melbær
• Persian: انگور خرس (angur-e xers)
• Russian: толокня́нка (ru) f (toloknjánka)
• Swedish: mjölon (sv)

Further reading

• bearberry on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Arctostaphylos on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
• Category:Arctostaphylos on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons
• bearberry at USDA Plants database