Bunchberry

Size, growth and what to expect

It grows slowly, a few inches a year in our growth estimator. Its stems stand 4 to 10 inches tall, and one plant covers 6 inches to a foot. The leaves sit in a whorl of four to six atop each stem, glossy green in summer and red to purple in fall. Seedlings first flower in their third to fifth year.

Four white bracts open around a tight knot of tiny greenish flowers from May to July, and bees and flies carry the pollen. Clusters of bright red berries, about a quarter inch across, ripen in August and can last into October unless birds take them first. Bears, small mammals and many birds eat the berries, and moose, deer, elk and caribou browse the plant.

It grows wild from Greenland across Canada and Alaska to northeastern Asia. In the lower 48 states it holds to the northern tier, reaching south to Maryland, the mountains of Virginia and West Virginia, Ohio and Minnesota, and down the Rockies to New Mexico. Its home is cool, moist conifer and mixed woods, thickets, cedar swamps and bog edges.

How to grow Bunchberry

Bunchberry grows in part shade or shade, in dappled light under trees, and it flowers and fruits more freely with some light. It needs a cool, moist, well-drained soil rich in humus and on the acid side, and it takes neither lime nor drying out. It does best in cool to cold climates and does poorly where summers are hot. It will not stand foot traffic. Set plants 2 feet apart and keep them 2 feet from a wall. At its size it can go within 15 feet of overhead wires.

Saplings ship bare-root or potted. Plant them in spring or fall, in a hole wider than the roots and no deeper. Set the crown at the soil line, put the native soil back in, and mulch with pine needles or peat, clear of the stems. Sow fresh seed outdoors in fall, on the surface of the soil. For spring, hold the damp seed in the refrigerator for 90 to 150 days first, and do not let it dry. Seed buried under even a little litter seldom sprouts.

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, and never let the soil dry out. It can be difficult to establish, so keep young plants evenly moist under their mulch.

Bunchberry cannot set fruit with its own pollen, and a patch spreading from one plant is a single clone, so plant two or more seedlings from different parents for berries. No serious pests or diseases trouble it, though a stressed plant is open to leaf spot, powdery mildew, canker and root rot. The berries are edible but nearly flavorless.