Empetrum eamesii

Red crowberry
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Ericales
Family: Ericaceae
Genus: Empetrum
Species:
E. eamesii
Binomial name
Empetrum eamesii
Fernald & Wiegand[1]
Synonyms[2][3]
  • Empetrum nigrum var. eamesii (Fernald & Wiegand) B. Boivin
  • Empetrum rubrum subsp. eamesii (Fernald & Wiegand) R.D. Good
  • Empetrum rubrum var. eamesii (Fernald & Wiegand) Cronquist

Empetrum eamesii, common name purple crowberry, is a plant native to eastern Canada and the northeastern United States.[4] It has been reported from sand dunes, rocky outcrops, and alpine heath in Québec, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York State, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Minnesota (Cook County), Newfoundland & Labrador and St. Pierre & Miquelon.[5][4]

All the US and some of the Canadian material belongs to Empetrum eamesii subsp. atropurpureum (Fernald & Wiegand) D.Löve which has been regarded as a separate species by some authorities[5] but not others.[3][4]

Empetrum eamesii is a low-lying, evergreen shrub with prostrate stems, forming a mat on the ground. Leaves are alternate or in whorls. Flowers are solitary near the tips of branches, each with 3 white petals. Fruits are spherical, pink or red in subsp. earnsii, purple to reddish-purple in subsp. atropurpureum. [5][6][7][8][9][10][11]

  1. ^ Fernald, Merritt Lyndon, & Wiegand, Karl McKay. 1913. Rhodora 15(180): 215–217.
  2. ^ Tropicos
  3. ^ a b The Plant List
  4. ^ a b c USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Plants profile, Empetrum eamesii
  5. ^ a b c Flora of North America v 8 p 488.
  6. ^ photo of isotype of Empetrum eamesii at Missouri Botanical Garden
  7. ^ Boivin, Joseph Robert Bernard. 1966. Le Naturaliste Canadien 93(4): 433.
  8. ^ Good, Ronald d'Oyley. 1927. Journal of the Linnean Society, Botany 47(317): 519.
  9. ^ Cronquist, Arthur John. 1991. Manual of the Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada (ed. 2) 864.
  10. ^ "Nova Scotia Wild Flora Society". Archived from the original on 2012-04-23. Retrieved 2014-03-08.
  11. ^ Evergreen Native Plant Database