12-9-08: Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (Kinnikinnick)

Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (Kinnikinnick) Kinninnick is delicate in appearance, yet a hardy native groundcover.

Year round it is covered in lustrous dark green 1/2” long leaves perched on deep red stems. As the stems age they become brown with peeling bark, similar to its relatives Manzanita and madrona. Late spring and summer bring pinkish-white urn shaped blooms followed by bright red berries in the fall. Kinninnick reaches a height of 6 – 10 inches and will form a 15 foot mat covering the ground or draping over walls, rock and slopes. Hiking as a child with my family I remember seeing kinninnick on the rough slope down form the trail, it was a sunny break from the forest, a time to stop and look around. In a nutshell, kinninnick is a full sun groundcover, growing best in well drained soil. It is low maintenance, smothering weeds once established, deer resistant, salt and wind and drought tolerant. The berries provide food for birds and in the wild bears; the flowers are a nectar source for bee and hummingbirds. Kinninnick grows circum boreal meaning living on the northern circumference of the Earth. Traditionally the leaves are used in a smoking mixture (kinninnick means mixture) and the berries are used in pemmican and for jams and jellies.

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