Cowberry

Common Name: Cowberry

Latin Name: Vaccinium vitis-idaea

Family: Ericaceae (Heather family)

The cowberry, also known as red whortleberry, is a relative of the bilberry and cranberry. It is an evergreen dwarf-shrub with creeping stems and erect shoots. It has larger leaves than bilberry and cranberry (resembling box leaves) and bell-shaped pinkish-white flowers in June to August which develop into edible red fruits.

Cowberry grows on moors and in open peaty woods. It is locally abundant in Britain on suitable habitats from South Wales and central England northwards.

In the Yorkshire Dales National Park this species is quite infrequent and has difficulty competing with heather and bilberry on drier areas of moorland. Flowers and fruits are rarely seen on this plant in the area which could be due to over grazing by sheep. It is most likely to be seen above 500m in disturbed open situations in the central and northern areas of the National Park, for example in upper Wensleydale.