Definition of "bearberry" []

• Any of certain mat-forming shrubs of the genus Arctostaphylos, especially A. uva-ursi, native to North America and Eurasia, having small leathery leaves, white or pinkish urn-shaped flowers, and red berrylike fruits. Also called kinnikinnick. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Also known as bearberry, uva ursi’s use as a folk remedy for urinary-tract infections has been validated by modern research, which shows that this herb is an effective treatment for bladder and kidney ailments."
• "Black spruce and dwarf larch Larix larieina scrub colonises exposed moraines, giving way to an ericaceous shrub formation in the more exposed and unstable areas with alpine bearberry Anctostaphylos alpina, alpine azalea Loiseleuria procumbens and diapensia."
• "Typical ground cover includes lichens, mosses, bracken fern and members of the heath family (bearberry and teaberry)."