The Probert Encyclopaedia of Nature

CRANBERRY

Cranberry (Vaccinium oxycoccus) is a prostrate evergreen shrub of the natural order Vacciniaceae (whortleberry group) with oval leaves, red wheel-shaped corolla and red berries. It is native to Europe, north Asia and North America where it is extensively cultivated for its fruit. It is also called Moss-berry or Moor-berry, as it grows only on peat-bogs or swampy land, usually among masses of sphagnum. The berry, when ripe, is globose and dark red, and a little more than six millimetres in diameter. These berries form a sauce of exquisite flavour, and were originally used for tarts, before being used for an accompaniment to turkey and as a juice drink. The American cranberry, a native of Canada and the United States, has larger berries than the European species, and is extensively cultivated in some localities. Vaccinium vitis-idaea, the cowberry, is often called the cranberry in Scotland.
Research Cranberry