Photo © John Birks |
Rare, in wet moorland Flower diameter c 7-10 mm. Fruit c 6-8 mm. ID: Flower (no pics yet) with 4 narrow pink petals curved backwards and 8 yellow stamens clustered together pointing forwards. Also recognisable in fruit by the fact that the berry is on a slender stalk several times as long as itself. Told from the very similar V oxycoccos by the flower/fruit stalks being hairless or almost hairless. They are covered with minute hairs in V oxycoccos. Other features: Evergreen shrub, low on ground, often hidden by heather. Leaves shiny green above, pale blue-green beneath, arranged alternately along the stem and quite well separated, their margins turned under. Fruit pale green at first, eventually red or brownish, often spotted. Fruit-stalk has 2 small bracts just below the mid-point. |
