American Cranberry

Winter compote

Cranberry is known for its long-lived, slightly bitter, slightly acidic, large sized berries (hence its species name macrocarpon or ‘large berry’). It is served as an accompaniment to meat dishes in winter.

Cranberry usually grows in acidic bogs and dune valleys.

Vaccinium is Latin and derived from vacca (cow) and baccinium (berries): a berry loved by cows.

The American cranberry belongs to the same genus as the bilberry (V. myrtillus) and comes from North America. It is also widely planted in the Netherlands (e.g. on Terschelling) and regularly escapes into the wild. Cultivating it is a profitable business.

Its small leaves are narrow and blunt and distinguish this species from the native bog cranberry, which has pointed leaves. Both types of cranberry have a finely shaped flower with pink, somewhat reflexed petals.