Crowberry

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A low-growing evergreen heath plant of northern regions that bears small black berries with a mild, watery taste
2. Small dark edible fruit produced by a creeping evergreen shrub common in arctic and mountain heathlands
3. The inky-black berry of a low, mat-forming northern shrub with needle-like leaves, found on moors and tundra

Etymology: Crowberry is a compound of "crow" and "berry", and the name may come from an unexpected place. The plant, Empetrum nigrum, bears small black berries across cold northern heaths and bogs. Its English name is probably a translation of the German "Krähenbeere", which was built the same way from "Krähe" (crow) and "Beere" (berry). The likeliest explanation is that crows were seen eating the fruit, though the berries' dark colour may be the real reason, since the sooty, blue-black sheen is also what gave a related Old Norse word its meaning, and the Inuktitut name for the plant reportedly means something like "looks like soot."

Synonyms: crakeberry