Arctostaphylos uva-ursi

Arctostaphylos uva-ursi is a small procumbent woody groundcover shrub growing to {{Convert|5-30|cm|abbr=off|frac=2}} high.{{cite web |title=Arctostaphylos uva-ursi; 'Massachusetts' |url=https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=j380 |publisher=Missouri Botanical Garden |access-date=27 August 2019 |date=2019}}

Wild stands of the species can be dense, with heights rarely taller than {{Convert|6|in|cm|abbr=on|order=flip}}. Erect branching twigs emerge from long flexible prostrate stems, which are produced by single roots. The trailing stems will layer, sending out small roots periodically. The finely textured velvety branches are initially white to pale green, becoming smooth and red-brown with maturity. The small solitary three-scaled buds are dark brown.

The leaves are shiny, small, and feel thick and stiff, measuring about {{Convert|4|cm|abbr=on|frac=2}} long and {{Convert|1|cm|abbr=on|frac=4}} wide. Their tops are darker green than their undersides.{{cite book |last1=Clapham |first1=Arthur |title=Excursion Flora of the British Isles |last2=Tutin |first2=Thomas |last3=Warburg |first3=Frederic |date=1989 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0521232902 |edition=Third |page=231}} They have rounded tips tapering back to the base, held vertically by a twisted leaf stalk in an alternate arrangement on the stem. The leaves remain green for 1–3 years before falling in autumn, when their colour changes to a reddish-green or purple, pale on the underside.

Terminal clusters of small urn-shaped flowers bloom from May to June. The flowers are white to pink, and bear round, fleshy or mealy, bright red to pink fruits called drupes. The smooth, glossy skinned fruits range from {{convert|1/4|to|1/2|inch|mm|0|abbr=out}} in diameter. The red fruits persist on the plant into early winter. The fruits are bittersweet when raw, but sweeter when boiled and dried. Each drupe contains 1 to 5 hard seeds, which need to be scarified and stratified prior to germination to reduce the seed coat and break embryo dormancy. There is an average of 40,900 cleaned seeds per pound.

{{gallery|mode=packed

|Arctostaphylos uva-ursi - Köhler–s Medizinal-Pflanzen-013.jpg|Illustration from Köhler's Medicinal Plants (1887)

|Baerentraube ML0002.jpg|Flowers

|Bearberry Flower.jpg|Flowers

|Common bearberry ("Kinnikinnick", Arctostaphylos uva-ursi) - fruits and leaves.JPG|A. uva-ursi subsp. uva-ursi fruit

}}

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.{{cite journal |author1=Pegg, Ronald B. |author2=Rybarczyk, Anna |author3=Amarowicz, Ryszard |year=2008 |title=Chromatographic separation of tannin fractions from a bearberry leaf (Arctostaphylos Uva-ursi L. Sprengel) extract by Se-HPLC |journal=Polish Journal of Food and Nutrition Sciences |volume=58 |issue=4 |pages=485–490 |doi=10.17221/234/2008-cjfs |doi-access=free |s2cid=37247418}}

As many as 14 subspecies have been accepted,{{cite web |date=2019 |title=Plants profile for Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (kinnikinnick) |url=https://plants.sc.egov.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=ARUV |access-date=2019-08-27 |publisher=USDA Plants}} however as of 2024 they are considered synonyms by major sources such as Plants of the World Online and World Flora Online.{{Cite WFO |title=Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (L.) Spreng. |id=0000543738 |access-date=26 March 2024}}

The genus name of Arctostaphylos uva-ursi comes from the Greek words arctos (meaning bear) and staphyle (meaning "bunch of grapes") in reference to the fruits which form grape-like clusters. In the wild, the fruits are commonly eaten by bears. The specific epithet, uva-ursi, comes from the Latin words uva (meaning grape) and ursus (bear), reflected by the bearberry nickname.{{cite book |last=Wells |first=Philip V. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jC5FAQAAIAAJ |title=The Manzanitas of California |publisher=University of Kansas |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-933994-22-5 |location=Lawrence, KS |page=13 |quote=The name Arctostaphylos is from Greek: {{transliteration|grc|arctos}} = bear, {{transliteration|grc|staphylos}} = bunch of grapes or berries; hence bearberry, pertaining redundantly to A. uva-ursi (Latin: {{lang|la|uva}} = berry, {{lang|la|ursi}} = of the bear).}}

The common name, kinnikinnick, is an Algonquin word meaning "smoking mixture". Native Americans and early pioneers smoked the dried uva-ursi leaves and bark alone or mixed with other herbs, tobacco or dried dogwood bark in pipes. Numerous common names exist, depending on region, such as mealberry, sandberry, mountain-box, fox-plum, hog-crawberry, and barren myrtle.

The distribution of Arctostaphylos uva-ursi is circumpolar, and it is widespread in northern latitudes, but confined to high altitudes further south:

• in Europe, from Iceland and North Cape, Norway south to southern Spain (Sierra Nevada); central Italy (Apennines) and northern Greece (Pindus mountains);
• in Asia from arctic Siberia south to Turkey, the Caucasus, the Levant and the Himalaya;
• in North America from arctic Alaska, Canada and Greenland, south to California, north coast, central High Sierra Nevada (above Convict Lake, Mono County, California), Central Coast, California, San Francisco Bay Area, to New Mexico in the Rocky Mountains; and the Appalachian Mountains in the northeast United States. It is prevalent across all regions of British Columbia and Alberta.

It is a fire-tolerant species and may be a seedbanking species.

Arctostaphylos uva-ursi is an alternate host for spruce broom rust.{{cite book |last1=Patterson |first1=Patricia A. |title=Field Guide to the Forest Plants of Northern Idaho |url=https://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs_int/int_gtr180.pdf |date=1985 |publisher=United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service |pages=37–47}}

Bears and other animals eat the berries.{{Cite book |last=Reiner |first=Ralph E. |title=Introducing the Flowering Beauty of Glacier National Park and the Majestic High Rockies |publisher=Glacier Park, Inc. |year=1969 |pages=114}}

The plant is rare or endangered in several states of the Midwestern United States.

One review indicated that ingestion of large doses can cause allergic reactions, with nausea and seizures, as a potential emergency condition.{{cite web |date=19 July 2017 |title=Uva ursi |url=https://www.drugs.com/npc/uva-ursi.html |access-date=27 August 2019 |publisher=Drugs.com}} Preliminary studies indicate that arbutin may be toxic when ingested in high doses.{{cite web |date=16 November 2019 |title=Arbutin, CID 440936 |url=https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/440936 |access-date=19 November 2019 |publisher=PubChem, National Library of Medicine, US National Institutes of Health}} Uva ursi may cause adverse effects in people with liver or kidney disease, or pregnant and breastfeeding women.

The leaves contain arbutin, which metabolizes to form hydroquinone, a potential liver toxin.{{cite journal |last1=De Arriba |first1=S. G |last2=Naser |first2=B |last3=Nolte |first3=K. U |year=2013 |title=Risk assessment of free hydroquinone derived from Arctostaphylos Uva-ursi folium herbal preparations |journal=International Journal of Toxicology |volume=32 |issue=6 |pages=442–53 |doi=10.1177/1091581813507721 |pmid=24296864 |s2cid=24225098}}

Bearberry fruits and leaves are used by members of the Blackfeet Nation as food.{{Cite book|title=Ethnobotany of the Blackfoot Indians|last=Hellson|first=John C.|publisher=National Museums of Canada|year=1974|location=Ottawa|pages=101}} While edible raw, the fruits are fairly bland that way,{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/277203364 |title=The Complete Guide to Edible Wild Plants |publisher=Skyhorse Publishing |others=United States Department of the Army |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-60239-692-0 |location=New York |pages=28 |language=en-US |oclc=277203364}}{{Cite book |last=Benoliel |first=Doug |url=https://archive.org/details/northwestforagin0000beno/page/107/ |title=Northwest Foraging: The Classic Guide to Edible Plants of the Pacific Northwest |publisher=Skipstone |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-59485-366-1 |edition=Rev. and updated |location=Seattle, WA |pages=107 |oclc=668195076}} but can be used to make jelly. The berries were used as seasoning and cooked with meat.{{cite book |editor1-last=Prance |editor1-first=Ghillean |editor2-last=Nesbitt |editor2-first=Mark |last1=Sanderson |first1=Helen |last2=Renfrew |first2=Jane M. |date=2005 |title=The Cultural History of Plants |publisher=Routledge |page=99 |isbn=0415927463}} The young leaves can be made into tea.

Teas and extracts of the leaves have been used in traditional medicine of First Nations people over centuries as urinary tract antiseptics, diuretics, and laxatives. In herbalism, leaf tea is used to treat urinary tract inflammation. Though thought to be an astringent{{cite book |last1=Niering |first1=William A. |author-link=William Niering| last2=Olmstead |first2=Nancy C. |title=The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers, Eastern Region |year=1985 |orig-year=1979|publisher=Knopf |isbn=0-394-50432-1 |page=497}} or cure for sexually transmitted diseases,{{cite book |last=Whitney |first=Stephen |title=Western Forests (The Audubon Society Nature Guides) |date=1985 |publisher=Knopf |location=New York |isbn=0-394-73127-1 |page=[https://archive.org/details/westernforests00whit/page/418 418] |url=https://archive.org/details/westernforests00whit/page/418 }} as of 2017, there was no high-quality evidence from clinical research that such treatments are effective or safe.

Dried bearberry leaves are the main component in many traditional North American Native smoking mixes,{{Cite book |author=Moerman, Daniel E. |title=Native American ethnobotany |date=15 August 1998 |isbn=0-88192-453-9 |pages=87–88 |chapter=Arctostaphylos uva-ursi|publisher=Timber Press }} known collectively as "kinnikinnick" (Algonquin for "smoking mixture") used especially among western First Nations, often including other herbs and sometimes tobacco.

Indigenous peoples also used the plant to make yellow dye.

There are several cultivars that are propagated for use as ornamental plants. It is an attractive year-round evergreen groundcover for gardens, and is useful for controlling erosion on hillsides and slopes due to its deep roots. It is tolerant of sun and dry soils, and is thus common groundcover in urban areas, in naturalized areas, and in native plant or rock gardens. As the seeds are difficult to germinate they are most often propagated using rooted stems.{{cite book |last1=Barr |first1=Claude A. |title=Jewels of the plains : wild flowers of the Great Plains grasslands and hills |date=1983 |publisher=University of Minnesota Press |location=Minneapolis |isbn=0-8166-1127-0 |pages=26–27}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{Commons category-inline|Arctostaphylos uva-ursi|Arctostaphylos uva-ursi}}
• {{Wikispecies-inline|Arctostaphylos uva-ursi|Arctostaphylos uva-ursi}}

{{wiktionary|la|ursus|ursī}}

{{wiktionary|la|ūva}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20160307153327/http://medplant.nmsu.edu/ursi.shtm Medicinal Plants: Arctostaphylos uva-ursi]

{{Arbutoideae}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q208032}}

{{Authority control}}

uva-ursi

Category:Berries

Category:Flora of Europe

Category:Flora of Asia

Category:Flora of Northern America

Category:Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands

Category:Native American culture

Category:Smoking in the United States

Category:Garden plants of Asia

Category:Garden plants of Europe

Category:Garden plants of North America

Category:Groundcovers

Category:Medicinal plants

Category:Plants used in Native American cuisine