# Bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi)

> A slow, flat evergreen mat for sun and sand, with leathery leaves that bronze in winter and red berries that feed birds and bears.

Family: Ericaceae (heath family). Also called kinnikinnick, common bearberry, red bearberry, bear's grape, sandberry, hog cranberry. Category: Native Shrubs. Grown from seed by Blue Whale Trees. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/bearberry/

![Bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi) dense evergreen mat of small paddle-shaped leaves with red berries](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/plants/bearberry-h1610-800.jpg)
*Photo: Krzysztof Ziarnek, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped · [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AArctostaphylos_uva-ursi_kz10.jpg)*

## Facts

- Type: Shrub
- Mature height: 1 ft
- USDA hardiness zones: 2 to 7
- Grows wild in: Sandy barrens, rocky ground, the coast and the Appalachians
- Native range: [Alaska](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AK) and 33 other states, north to [North Dakota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=ND), south to [Arizona](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AZ) and west to [Oregon](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OR) ([Alaska](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AK), [Arizona](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AZ), [California](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CA), [Colorado](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CO), [Connecticut](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CT), [Delaware](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=DE), [Idaho](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=ID), [Illinois](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IL), [Indiana](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IN), [Iowa](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IA), [Maine](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=ME), [Maryland](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MD), [Massachusetts](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MA), [Michigan](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MI), [Minnesota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MN), [Montana](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MT), [Nevada](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NV), [New Hampshire](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NH), [New Jersey](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NJ), [New Mexico](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NM), [New York](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NY), [North Dakota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=ND), [Ohio](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OH), [Oregon](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OR), [Pennsylvania](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=PA), [Rhode Island](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=RI), [South Dakota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=SD), [Utah](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=UT), [Vermont](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=VT), [Virginia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=VA), [Washington](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WA), [West Virginia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WV), [Wisconsin](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WI) and [Wyoming](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WY))
- Sun: Full, Part
- Soil moisture: Dry, Average
- Growth rate: Slow
- Flowers: April to June
- Fruit: Berries, August to March
- First crop: —
- Mature spread: 6 ft
- Traits: Evergreen, Drought tolerant, Salt tolerant, Erosion control, Wildlife value, Winter interest
- Sold as: Saplings, Seed

Heights and zones are typical ranges for the species in cultivation; local conditions and seed source shift them.

## Availability

Saplings ship [in a pot](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/a-sapling-in-a-pot/index.html.md), in the dormant season, and their [height and age](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/reading-a-nursery-listing/index.html.md) are stated with the price, once available. Live plants ship February to May and October to November. Not priced yet: leave an email on the web page for one email when it is priced, with a code for 10% off the plants in that order, not shipping or tax, or write to captain@bluewhaletrees.com.

## Notes

Bearberry, or kinnikinnick, is a trailing evergreen shrub whose long stems root as they creep across sand and rock. Its leathery, paddle-shaped leaves sit on red stems with papery, peeling bark. It is the only manzanita that grows wild outside North America, around the whole northern world. Illinois, Iowa and Maryland list it as endangered, Indiana lists it as threatened, and Ohio lists it as extirpated. Its dense mats hold sandy banks and slopes against erosion. Use it to cover a sunny bank, a dune or a rock garden on poor, sandy ground.

## Size, growth and what to expect

It grows slowly, a few inches a year in our growth estimator. It makes a flat mat 6 inches to a foot high, and one plant spreads 3 to 6 feet across or more, its stems rooting along the ground. It is long-lived. A stem from Russian Lapland counted at least 80 annual rings, and older plants may exist. The glossy, paddle-shaped leaves, about an inch long, turn bronze or reddish purple in winter.

Small, waxy, urn-shaped flowers, white tinged with pink, nod in clusters from April to June. Native bees work them, and hummingbirds take their nectar. The berries ripen red in August and September, about a third of an inch across, and often hang on until March. Bears, grouse, wild turkeys, songbirds, deer and small mammals eat them. It is a host plant of the hoary elfin and brown elfin butterflies.

In North America it ranges from Labrador to Alaska and south to Virginia, northern Illinois, New Mexico and California. Its home is sand dunes, sandy pine barrens, rocky slopes and ledges, and open pine woods.

## How to grow Bearberry

Bearberry needs full sun or light shade and a dry to moderately moist, sandy or gritty soil that drains fast. It wants acid soil, about pH 4.5 to 5.5, and it grows well in poor ground. Once established it takes drought, salt spray and road salt. It will not take wet or poorly drained soil, and it does poorly where summers are hot and humid. Set plants 2 feet apart, or a foot apart for a quicker carpet, and keep them 3 feet from a wall. At its size it can go within 15 feet of overhead wires.

Saplings ship potted. Bearberry resents root disturbance, so plant it from the pot in spring or fall and keep the root ball whole. Set the crown at the soil line, put the native soil back in, and keep any mulch clear of the stems. Bearberry is slow and uncertain from seed. Sow cleaned seed outdoors in fall, three-quarters of an inch deep, and expect seedlings the second spring. For a spring sowing, keep the damp seed warm for 60 to 120 days, then in the refrigerator for 60 to 90 days first.

Water it every day for the first two weeks after planting, then every two to three days until week 12. After that, water weekly through the first two summers if rain is short. Before each watering, push a finger a few inches into the soil, and wait if it is still wet. Do not fertilize it, since feeding speeds the weeds as well. Keep weeds pulled until the mat closes over.

Each flower carries both male and female parts, so there are no male and female plants to pair. On poorly drained ground or where summers run hot, it is open to root rot, black mildew, leaf gall, leaf spot and rust. It is a host of yellow witches' broom, a disease that also strikes spruces. The berries are edible but mealy and tasteless.

## Sources

- [NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox: Arctostaphylos uva-ursi](https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/arctostaphylos-uva-ursi/)
- [Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder: Arctostaphylos uva-ursi](https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?taxonid=279933)
- [Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Arctostaphylos uva-ursi](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=ARUV)
- [USDA Forest Service, Fire Effects Information System: Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, Crane 1991](https://www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/plants/shrub/arcuva/all.html)
- [USDA NRCS Plant Fact Sheet: Bearberry, Arctostaphylos uva-ursi](https://plants.sc.egov.usda.gov/DocumentLibrary/factsheet/pdf/fs_aruv.pdf)
- [The Morton Arboretum: Bearberry, Arctostaphylos uva-ursi](https://mortonarb.org/plant-and-protect/trees-and-plants/bearberry/)
- [USDA Forest Service, Woody Plant Seed Manual (2008), Arctostaphylos chapter, Meyer](https://www.fs.usda.gov/nsl/Wpsm/Arctostaphylos.pdf)
- [Native Plant Network: propagation protocol for Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, Luna, Evans and Wick 2008, Glacier National Park](https://npn.rngr.net/renderNPNProtocolDetails?selectedProtocolIds=ericaceae-arctostaphylos-99)
- [Flora of North America, vol. 8: Arctostaphylos uva-ursi](http://floranorthamerica.org/Arctostaphylos_uva-ursi)
- [Illinois Endangered Species Protection Board: Checklist of Endangered and Threatened Animals and Plants of Illinois, IDNR rev. 10/31/2025](https://dnr.illinois.gov/content/dam/soi/en/web/dnr/espb/documents/et-list-review-and-revision/2025-illinois-list-revision/2025-e-t-checklist.pdf)
- [Iowa Administrative Code 571, chapter 77: Endangered and Threatened Plant and Animal Species, effective June 17, 2026](https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/iac/chapter/571.77.pdf)
- [Maryland Natural Heritage Program: List of Rare, Threatened, and Endangered Plants of Maryland, March 2021](https://dnr.maryland.gov/wildlife/Documents/rte_Plant_List.pdf)
- [Indiana Department of Natural Resources: Endangered, Threatened, and Extirpated Plants of Indiana, 10/29/2025](https://www.in.gov/dnr/nature-preserves/files/np-etrplants.pdf)
- [Ohio Department of Natural Resources: Rare Native Ohio Plants, 2024-25 Status List](https://dam.assets.ohio.gov/image/upload/odnr/natural-areas/2024-25_Ohio_Rare_Native_Plants_Status_List_FINAL_draft.pdf)
- [NatureServe Explorer: Arctostaphylos uva-ursi](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.139183/Arctostaphylos_uva-ursi)
- [Hans Molisch, The Longevity of Plants (1938), after Kihlman 1890](https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.502786)

## Read before planting

- [Ten planting mistakes that quietly kill trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/ten-planting-mistakes/index.html.md)
- [Transplanting young trees: timing, water and protection](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/transplanting-young-trees/index.html.md)
- [Protecting young trees from voles, rabbits, deer and squirrels](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/protecting-trees-from-animals/index.html.md)
- [Low native shrubs and groundcovers for sun, shade, sand and bog](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/low-native-shrubs-and-groundcovers/index.html.md)
- [The habitat around a tree is part of the tree](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/habitat-around-a-tree/index.html.md)
- [What a young tree looks like: first-year seedlings of oak, walnut, hickory, chestnut, maple and redbud, and the weed trees to pull](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/what-a-young-tree-looks-like/index.html.md)

## Related

- Plants that share its sun and soil: [Three-toothed Cinquefoil](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/three-toothed-cinquefoil/index.html.md), [Velvetleaf Blueberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/velvetleaf-blueberry/index.html.md), [Roundleaf Serviceberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/roundleaf-serviceberry/index.html.md) and [Kalm's St. John's-wort](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/kalm-st-johns-wort/index.html.md)
- Trees to plant it under: [Northern Red Oak](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/northern-red-oak/index.html.md), [Black Oak](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/black-oak/index.html.md) and [Red Pine](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/red-pine/index.html.md)
- Same size, similar character: [Beach Plum](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/beach-plum/index.html.md), [Spanish Dagger](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/spanish-dagger/index.html.md), [Bladdernut](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/bladdernut/index.html.md) and [Spicebush](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/spicebush/index.html.md)
- [Planting-site check](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md): for a thrive, struggle or fail verdict on Bearberry, add ?species=bearberry with zone (2 to 10), sun (full, part, shade) and moisture (dry, average, wet) to that address; for example, the verdict for zone 2, part sun and average soil as Markdown is at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md?species=bearberry&zone=2&sun=part&moisture=average
- [Companion species for Bearberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=bearberry): the natives that share its ground and the plants that pair with it in a yard.
- [Tree growth estimator](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md): how the height and trunk projections are made; the estimate for Bearberry as Markdown is at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md?species=bearberry (add height=, years= and site= poor, average or good)
- [Seed sowing planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md): how Bearberry is sown, in the chart for every species (treatment, cold days, depth, timing); the dated plan for it as Markdown is at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md?species=bearberry (add state= and zone= for your own frost dates, method=fridge for the refrigerator route)
- [Pollination planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md): what Bearberry needs for a crop and how many to plant, in the table for every species; the verdict for 1 of them as Markdown is at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md?plants=bearberry:1
- [Planting-window tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md): when to plant Bearberry where you live, as a fall and a spring window from the local frost dates; the windows as Markdown are at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md?species=bearberry&state=MO&zone=6 with your own state and zone in place of those
- [Planting-distance tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md): how far Bearberry goes from a house, a septic field, a walk, wires, a property line and the next tree; the distances as Markdown are at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md?species=bearberry&near=house,septic,pavement,wires,boundary,tree
- [Bloom and fruit calendar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md): the months Bearberry flowers and fruits, in the grid for every species; its own row and the gaps of a planting with it as Markdown at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=bearberry