Plants & Nature

Cranberry

The cranberry is a small creeping plant that grows on bogs. It has long, thin stems that lie on top of bog moss and tiny leaves coming off the stem. Because they are so…

Cranberry

Description: Cranberries are small creeping plants that grow on bogs. They have long, thin stems that lie on top of bog moss and tiny leaves coming off the stem. Because they are so small, they can be hard to spot among the bog’s other plants. Although it may not look like other shrubs, it is a small shrub and belongs to the same family as other heathers. The cranberry’s flowers are pink, and the petals are bent backwards so that the flower comes to resemble the bill of a crane – hence the name cranberry. The berries sit like pearls on a string along the thin stem. They do not ripen properly until they have been exposed to frost. They turn out best of all if they stay on the plant all winter under a cover of snow and you pick them in spring. They have a high content of various substances that preserve them and keep them from rotting over the winter. Use: Cranberries are rich in vitamin C and have therefore been used against scurvy. Many people still use them as a remedy for urinary tract infections. Habitat type: Water and bog Edible: Yes Written by: Lærke Stewart

, via Wikimedia Commons](Traneb%C3%A6r/Tranebr.jpg)

Cranberry. Photo: Christian Fischer, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

, via Wikimedia Commons](Traneb%C3%A6r/Tranebr2.jpg)

Cranberries before they ripen. Photo: Atriplexmedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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