bearberry

noun — 6 senses

bearberry

noun

UK /ˈbɛəb(ə)ɹi/

Etymology From bear + berry.

1

Any of four dwarf shrubs of formerly all members of the genus Arctostaphylos, three now assigned to genus Arctous, which principally grow in arctic and subarctic regions and bear edible berries.

  • Sometimes she scrabbled through the drifts on hilltops and found a few wizened bearberries or a handful of rock-tripe, a kind of moss.1952, Farley Mowat, People of the Deer, Key Porter, published 2005, page 26:
2

common bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi).

3

alpine bearberry, mountain bearberry, black bearberry (Arctous alpina, syn. Arctostaphylos alpinus)

4

red bearberry (Arctous rubra, syn. Arctostaphylos rubra)

5

A similar berry of temperate south-central China (Arctous microphylla).

6

Pacific madrone (Arbutus menziesii).

Synonyms
bear's-grape, uva ursi
Derived terms
bearberry willow, mountain bearberry

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.