Description

General - creeping, matted, perennial evergreen shrub to 15 cm tall; branches to 40 cm long.

Leaves - needle-like, 3-8 mm long, spreading; deeply grooved beneath; edges rolled under.

Flowers - solitary in leaf axils; purplish crimson, inconspicuous; male, female or with both sexes; appearing May to June.

Fruit - juicy, black, berry-like drupes, with 6-9 white nutlets; edible but insipid.

Habitat

Acid peatlands, cold coniferous forest, and acidic rocky slopes; widespread across northern boreal forest, north through arctic islands, circumpolar.

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