crowberry

American  

[kroh-ber-ee, -buh-ree] / ˈkroʊˌbɛr i, -bə ri /

noun

PLURAL

crowberries

1. the black or reddish berry of a heathlike, evergreen shrub, Empetrum nigrum, of northern regions.

2. the plant itself.

3. any of certain other fruits or the plants bearing similar berries, as the bearberry.

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crowberry British  

/ ˈkrəʊbərɪ, -brɪ /

noun

1. a low-growing N temperate evergreen shrub, Empetrum nigrum, with small purplish flowers and black berry-like fruit: family Empetraceae

2. any of several similar or related plants

3. the fruit of any of these plants

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Etymology

Origin of crowberry

1590–1600; crow ¹ + berry, probably translation of German Krähenbeere

Example Sentences

We walked onto a bluff padded in low-growing crowberry and Arctic thyme.

From Washington Post

The species has a symbiotic relationship with dozens of plants, such as the medicinal herb Astragalus membranaceus, used in traditional medicine, and the rare Korean crowberry.

From National Geographic

Surrounding the 323 reindeer carcasses were seeds of crowberry – a keystone species of alpine tundra – that scavengers were dropping around the site.

From The Guardian

The resulting bounty used in the hotel kitchen also includes cloudberries, juniperberries, marshberries, crowberries — and snowberries, “when we can get them,” he says.

From Washington Post

Some droppings, the researchers noticed, were blue and loaded with crowberry seeds.

From New York Times