crowberry

[kroh-ber-ee, -buh-ree]

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.

crowberry

/ 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

Word History and Origins

Origin of crowberry¹

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.

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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.

Read more on National Geographic

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

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

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

Read more on New York Times