NATURE NOTES FROM ACADIA

CROWBERRY

Of the many plants on Mount Desert Island which belong to the arctic flora, the Crowberry (Empetrum nigrum) is one of the most interesting. Here it is to be found growing in dense mats both on mountain summits (Cadillac, Champlain, and others) and along the shore of the ocean (at Anemone Cave, Hunter's Beach and elsewhere). Superficially the plant resembles the well-known cranberry, but the berries of Empetrum are a dull black.

The geographic distribution of Crowberry is extensive. In North America it is to be found in Alaska, Canada, and as far south as Long Island in eastern United States and Oregon in western United States. It ventures far north of the Arctic Circle in Greenland and is frequent in northern Europe and Asia. In truth this plant encircles the globe in the northern regions.

- Margaret Stupka