Arctous alpina

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Cladus: Asterids
Ordo: Ericales

Familia: Ericaceae
Subfamilia: Arbutoideae
Genus: Arctous
Species: Arctous alpina
Name

Arctous alpina Nied., 1889.
Synonyms

Arbutus alpina L.
Arctostaphylos alpinus (L.) Sprengel
Arctous alpina subsp. japonica (Nakai) Tatew.
Arctous alpina var. japonicus (Nakai) Ohwi
Arctous japonicus Nakai
Mairania alpina (L.) Desv.
Uva-ursi alpina (L.) S.F.Gray
Vaccinium merkii Fisch. ex Herd.

Distribution
Native distribution areas:

Continental: Eurasia
Albania, Austria, England, Slovakia, +Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Switzerland, N-Spain (Pyrenees), Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia & Hercegovina, Macedonia, Serbia & Kosovo, Norway, N- & W-European Russia, Sweden, Siberia (W-Siberia, C-Siberia), China (Gansu, Nei Mongol, Qinghai, Shaanxi, N-Sichuan, Xinjiang), Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Japan (Hokkaido, Honshu), Russian Far East (incl. Kuril Isl., Sakhalin, Kamchatka)
Continental: Northern America
Alaska, USA (Maine, New Hampshire), Canada (British Columbia, Labrador, Manitoba, Newfoundland, Northern Territories, Nunavut, Ontario, Quebec, Yukon), Greenland, St. Pierre et Miquelon

References: Brummitt, R.K. 2001. TDWG – World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, 2nd Edition
References
Primary references

Niedenzu, F.J., 1889. Die Natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien 4(1): 48.

Links

Hassler, M. 2020. Arctous alpina. World Plants: Synonymic Checklists of the Vascular Plants of the World In: Roskovh, Y., Abucay, L., Orrell, T., Nicolson, D., Bailly, N., Kirk, P., Bourgoin, T., DeWalt, R.E., Decock, W., De Wever, A., Nieukerken, E. van, Zarucchi, J. & Penev, L., eds. 2020. Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life. Published online. Accessed: 2020 Apr 20. Reference page.
Govaerts, R. et al. 2020. Arctous alpina in Kew Science Plants of the World online. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published online. Accessed: 2020 Apr 20. Reference page.
International Plant Names Index. 2020. Arctous alpina. Published online. Accessed: Apr 20 2020.
Tropicos.org 2020. Arctous alpina. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published online. Accessed: 20 Apr 2020.

Vernacular names
English: Alpine Bearberry
español: Gayuva Negra
suomi: Riekonmarja
français: Raisin d'Ours des Alpes
svenska: Ripbär

Arctous alpina (syn. Arctostaphylos 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 alpina L..

Description

Arctous alpina is a procumbent shrub usually less than 6 inches (15 cm) high with a woody stem and straggling branches. The leaves are alternate and wither in the autumn but remain on the plant for another year. The leaves are stalked and are oval with serrated margins and a network of veins. They often turn red to scarlet in autumn. The flowers are in groups of two to five, white or pink and urn-shaped and about 3 to 5 mm (0 to 0 in) long. They have five sepals, five fused petals with five small projecting lobes, ten stamens and a single carpel. The fruits are spherical, 9 to 12 mm (0 to 0 in) long, initially green, then red and finally glossy black and succulent when ripe. This plant flowers in June.[2][3]
Distribution and habitat

Arctous alpina has a circumpolar distribution. It is found at high latitudes, from Scotland east across Scandinavia, Russia, Alaska, Northern Canada and Greenland. Its southern limits in Europe are the Pyrenees and the Alps, in Asia, the Altay Mountains and Mongolia, and in North America, British Columbia in the west, and Maine and New Hampshire in the east.[4] Its natural habitat is moorland, dry forests with birch and pine and hummocks covered in moss at the edges of bogs.[3]
Ecology

Arctous alpina forms a symbiotic relationship life with fungi which supply it with nutrients such as phosphorus. The berries are appreciated by birds.[3]
References

"NatureServe Explorer 2.0". explorer.natureserve.org. Retrieved 21 April 2022.
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Native Plant Information Network—NPIN: Arctostaphylos alpina (Alpine bearberry). Accessed 2013-02-02
"Alpine Bearberry". NatureGate. Retrieved 2013-12-24.
"Arctous alpina". Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Agricultural Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).