Bearberry
Arctostaphylos uva-ursi
Hosts 1 caterpillarBird foodPollinator plant
(c) Douglas Goldman, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), uploaded by Douglas Goldman
Growing it
| When | Flowers May to June; fruits August to September |
|---|---|
| Type | groundcover |
| Sun | Full sun, partial shade |
| Water | Low |
| Soil | pH 4.5–7 |
| Hardiness | zone 2–7 |
| Mature height | 0.15 m |
| Mature spread | 0.75 m |
| Spacing | 0.5 m |
| Years to maturity | 4 |
| Bloom | May–Jun |
| Flower colour | White read from a published flora |
| In bloom | May June |
| Fruit | Aug–Sep |
| Native to | AB, SK |
spoon-shaped leaves about 2 cm long
Where it has been recorded
Which ecoregions the records fall in
- Northern Continental Divide south AB: 705 records, high confidence
- Fescue Grassland south AB: 658 records, high confidence
- Aspen Parkland central AB / SK: 650 records, high confidence
- Western Alberta Upland central AB: 464 records, high confidence
- Eastern Continental Ranges central AB: 427 records, high confidence
- Boreal Transition central AB / SK: 133 records, high confidence
- Mid-Boreal Uplands central AB / SK: 115 records, high confidence
- Moist Mixed Grassland south AB / SK: 96 records, high confidence
- Cypress Upland south AB / SK: 89 records, high confidence
- Peace Lowland north AB: 48 records, high confidence
- Slave River Lowland north AB: 17 records, medium confidence
- Mixed Grassland south AB / SK: 10 records, medium confidence
- Tazin Lake Upland north AB / SK: 6 records, low confidence
- Churchill River Upland north SK: 4 records, low confidence
- Hay River Lowland north AB: 4 records, low confidence
- Wabasca Lowland north AB: 4 records, low confidence
- Mid-Boreal Lowland central SK: 3 records, low confidence
These are counts of records collected somewhere in the region, which is the resolution of the evidence: the map above shows where inside it. A region with 3 records is not the same claim as one with three hundred, so the count travels with the region. A region missing from this list means nobody has recorded it there, which is not the same as the plant being absent. Records within 900 m of a border count for neither side, because the border is not drawn finely enough to say which one they are on. Source: GBIF occurrence search + PRESERVED_SPECIMEN pass, retrieved 2026-08-24. Boundaries digitised from the National Ecological Framework for Canada v2.2 (Ecological Stratification Working Group 1995), simplified to about 900 m for display: an outline is accurate to roughly a kilometre, not to the metre. How these counts are made.
See every observation, live and current, on GBIF or iNaturalist.
Documented animals
52 documented relationships.
nectar for
- American Lady Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Andrena carlini Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Andrena vicina Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Black-tailed Bumble Bee Specimen records from ecdysis.org
- Blue Orchard Mason Bee Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Bombylius pygmaeus Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Brown-belted Bumble Bee Specimen records from www.bumblebeewatch.org
- Brown-tailed Bumble Bee Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Callophrys augustinus Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Callophrys polios Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Central Bumble Bee Specimen records from www.bumblebeewatch.org
- Cryptic Bumble Bee Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Eastern Pine Elfin Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Epalpus signifer Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Erynnis icelus Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Helophilus fasciatus Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Hummingbird Clearwing Moth Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Hunt's Bumble Bee Specimen records from www.bumblebeewatch.org
- Large Bee Fly Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Mustard White Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Northern Azure Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Olympia Marble Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Polygonia progne Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Pyrgus centaureae Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Red-belted Bumble Bee Specimen records from www.bumblebeewatch.org
- Sitka Bumble Bee Specimen records from www.bumblebeewatch.org
- Spring Azure Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Tricoloured Bumble Bee Specimen records from www.bumblebeewatch.org
- Two-ranked Bumble Bee Specimen records from www.bumblebeewatch.org
- Western Bumble Bee Specimen records from www.bumblebeewatch.org
- Yellow Cuckoo Bumble Bee Specimen records from www.bumblebeewatch.org
- Yellow-banded Bumble Bee Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Yellow-fronted Bumble Bee Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
pollen for
- Andrena nivalis Guzman et al. 2022
- Andrena scurra Guzman et al. 2022
- Bald-faced Hornet Guzman et al. 2022
- Black-tailed Bumble Bee Clements & F. L. Long 1923
- Blue Orchard Mason Bee Guzman et al. 2022
- Brown-tailed Bumble Bee Guzman et al. 2022
- Epalpus signifer Guzman et al. 2022
- Eucera acerba Guzman et al. 2022
- Habropoda cineraria Guzman et al. 2022
- Large Bee Fly Guzman et al. 2022
- Lasioglossum brunneiventre Guzman et al. 2022
- Osmia malina Guzman et al. 2022
- Two-ranked Bumble Bee Guzman et al. 2022
- Volucella bombylans Guzman et al. 2022
- Yellow-fronted Bumble Bee Guzman et al. 2022
fruit for
- Ruffed Grouse hurlbertlab/dietdatabaseMcGowan & J. D 1973
- Willow Ptarmigan hurlbertlab/dietdatabaseWest & M. S. Meng 1966
caterpillar host for
- Callophrys polios Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Tamalia coweni Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Also worth knowing
Safety
Toxicity not assessed, absence of a warning is not a guarantee of safety
Edible parts
Fruit, leaves
Buying it
About $8–$16 per plant (estimate), usually stocked by garden centres. Estimate (groundcover default); AB retail as of 2026
Where these numbers came from
- Flower detail: not verified, a genus-level estimate