Common name: Common bearberry / kinnikinnick
Family: Ericaceae
Information: Common from low to alpine elevations in well-drained (sandy) soils in in forests and clearings. According to Pojar and MacKinnon, Kinnikinnick is “said to be an Algonquian term meaning smoking mixture”, its dried leaves were used by several BC Indigenous nations, including the Coast Salish. Produces small bright red berries (not shown).
Photo: Forest clearing at ca. 1950 m in Manning Park along the three brother’s trail, July 8 2020. N Hewitt
Sources and Additional Resources:
Pojar, J. & MacKinnon, A. (2014). Plants of Coastal British Columbia: Including Washington, Oregon & Alaska. Vancouver: Lone Pine Publishing.
Klinkenberg, Brian. (Editor) 2020. E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Plants of British Columbia [eflora.bc.ca]. Lab for Advanced Spatial Analysis, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. https://linnet.geog.ubc.ca/Atlas/Atlas.aspx?sciname=Arctostaphylos%20uva-ursi Accessed: 2023-06-17.
