black crowberry (Hurricane Island Natural History Guide)

black crowberry

Empetrum nigrum

Summary ⁶

Empetrum nigrum is a species of crowberry known as black crowberry which is native to most northern areas of the northern hemisphere, as well as the Falkland Islands in the southern hemisphere.

Taxon biology ⁷

It's not hard to guess where this plant got its name from. Crows, together with curlews, doves, pheasants and gulls, like to eat the berries of this plant. The shiny black berries are edible for people however don't have much flavor. Even grazing animals don't eat crowberry. The plants are either male or female. Once they get berries, it's easy to see which ones are female. However, you can also distinguish the sex if you are fortunate to spot the tiny flowers in early spring. Male plants have pink flowers while female plants have darker purple to red flowers.

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Range Map

iNat Map

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