Crowberry

Empetrum nigrum. The crowberry, known in Newfoundland as a blackberry, is similar in appearance to a black partridgeberry or blueberry. It is a light green, mat forming shrub which grows in areas similar to that of the partridgeberry. The Inuit, of which these berries are a staple, call them, 'Fruit of the North.' Their flowers, male, female, or both sexes are purple-crimson, inconspicuous, and appear May to June. The season usually begins in July and lasts until the first snow. They are almost completely devoid of natural acid and their sweet flavour generally peaks after frost. The Dene of Slave Lake gathered these berries to relieve thirst when no water was available. Crowberries are a good source of vitamin C, dietary fibre, and folate.