Swamp berries: photos, names, description

Thanks for the question. I was wondering, what do I know? I had the opportunity to meet cloudberries “personally”. Amazing berry. Not only does it have an original taste, but it also has a wonderful effect on the skin of the face and body. By the way, it can also be used for hair.

I know that you can find cranberries in the swamp. This is also a wonderful berry that makes amazing sauces for meat).

I read that sundew grows there (I just didn’t know it was a berry). But I don’t know this berry.

Lingonberries live there too. very tasty and healthy berry. And what kind of jam is made from it?

I won’t forget to mention blueberries! It’s a pity that in our area it is only found frozen.

I think that in nature there are still quite a few berries that grow in the swamp, but about which we know nothing.

There is something to strive for).

cranberries and grow in swamps .

Every autumn we go to pick blueberries, a tasty but sour berry.

We usually make jam from blueberries for the winter or grind them like currants with sugar.

And in late autumn we collect cranberries, at this time of year they are very tasty, we freeze cranberries, and in winter we make fruit drinks.

Blueberries are usually near any swampy area or in the forest near lakes with a silt bottom where there are swampy plants on the water near the shores, so, near such an area in the forest there are blueberries, although there is no swamp... and I haven’t seen much in the swamp itself, if there is one, then nearby, but not in the swamp. In the swamp, Brusinika, cranberries, boneberries - well, right in the swamp if you eat it, it’s too small, others, if I forgot, are even less common, but do you just need it? if you really need it, buy it. At one time, my mother loved to pick lingonberries and cranberries in the swamp and took us little ones with her until she failed. Hysterical, screaming, what a fool I am, don’t come. We calm down, we shout... but what’s the point, the forest, the wilderness. In short, they calmed her down so that she would move less, but almost immediately she went from hysterics up to her chest, they started looking for sticks, they couldn’t find them... they broke a young tree and so they handed it over as a branch when the mother was already there face up in the swamp to breathe... that is, already I almost got away with it. They pulled me out, she hasn’t walked much in the swamps since then, and a couple of years later she lamented what a fool I was for dragging you to the swamp.. and it’s true, I don’t think that in an emergency situation she would have the gumption to break the nearest albeit a young tree. So figure out whether you need it, of course, if you are not overweight and in rainless weather, the swamps are relatively safe, but still.. if there is no one to pull it out, well, you will die in the mud.

Surely each of us at least once in our lives ate berries collected in swamps. Unlike the not very friendly wetlands, berries and plants have a completely aesthetic appearance and are used not only in the food industry, but also in medicine, cosmetology and for the treatment and prevention of many diseases. For many, picking ripe berries is the main source of income.

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Common Berries

Among the large number of berries that are collected in different types of swamps, the most popular and purchased are the following.

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Cranberry

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People call cranberries cranberries or cranberries. Translated, this word means sour swamp ball. You can find the berries of the plant in the area of ​​raised and transitional swamps. The most favorable condition for the germination of shrubs is the presence of young yellowish sphagnum, which grows in the form of a continuous carpet.

Little-known swamp berries

The following types of berries can also be found in the swamps:

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Cloudberry

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Cloudberry is a plant that helps improve the condition of the digestive system and is also used for cardiovascular diseases. The berries are used to produce jam, juice, jam, compotes and other products.

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Vodjanika

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Crowberry - the berries contain tannins, resins, vitamins, carotene, benzoic and acetic acid. An excellent sedative, also used for headaches, hypertension, and metabolic disorders.

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Blueberry

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Blueberry - used to increase visual acuity and reduce intraocular pressure. It has general strengthening, antioxidant, hemostatic and antianemic properties. The most popular way to consume berries is by taking canned berry extracts.

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Prince

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In the swamps you can also find princely berries, which are red or purple in color. The leaves of the plant are used in folk medicine. Infusions from princely plant help reduce fever and inflammation in the throat and mouth.

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From a practical point of view, in cranberry fruits the greatest importance is given to the content of sugars, organic acids, pectin substances and vitamins.

Of the acids in berries, citric acid predominates; benzoic, quinic, ursolic, chlorogenic, malic, oleic, γ-hydroxy-α-ketobutyric, α-ketoglutaric are also present. In trace quantities - oxalic and amber.

Of the sugars, the main place is occupied by glucose and fructose, much less sucrose. From the group of polysaccharides, pectins, contained in significant quantities in cranberries, are of greatest practical importance.

Cranberry fruits are rich in vitamin C, in this respect they are equal to oranges, lemons, grapefruits, and strawberries. Among other vitamins, fruits contain B1, B2, B5, B6, PP. Cranberries are a valuable source of vitamin K1 (phylloquinone), just like cabbage and strawberries.

Other substances in the fruit include betaine and bioflavonoids: anthocyanins, leukoanthocyanins, catechins, flavonols and phenolic acids, as well as macro- and microelements: a significant amount of potassium, less phosphorus and calcium. There is relatively a lot of iron, there is also manganese, molybdenum, and copper. In addition to them, there is iodine, magnesium, barium, boron, cobalt, nickel, tin, lead, silver, titanium, chromium, zinc, aluminum, etc. [13]

The swamps reveal secrets

In mid-July, many of our swamps are covered with a red-amber carpet of ripening cloudberries . The bugbear, the ocellus, the yellow raspberry, and yellow raspberry are popular names for it. Indeed, in terms of the structure of the fruit, cloudberries resemble raspberries, but their berries are only red at first, and when ripe they become bright yellow. It is no coincidence that cloudberries are called “reverse berries”, “amber of swamps” and even “swamp pineapple”. The scientific name of cloudberry is Rubus chamaemorus L., which in Russian means a dwarf mulberry tree with red berries. There are two versions regarding the name “cloudberry”. According to one, it comes from “morozska” (when cloudberries bloom, spring frosts are very frequent), according to another, from the word “mura,” the old Karelian name for this berry. Anyone who happened to be in the high marshes at the end of spring saw an extraordinary phenomenon - cloudberries blooming. In one place its large white flowers are pressed against the brown carpet of sphagnum, in another they look out between the bushes of Cassandra and wild rosemary, and in the third they merge into a solid white carpet.

Cloudberries usually bloom profusely, but do not bear fruit every year. What's the matter? There are many reasons. And one of them is a flower. Pick a few flowers and take a closer look at them. Five white petals surround a yellow center, but it turns out that most of the flowers are male: they have only stamens and no pistils. These are "barren flowers". Only after a long search, looking through many flowers, we find green fused pistils in the middle of the white petals. This is the female flower. Only if pollination is successful will a fruit develop from it. The phenomenon when flowers of different sexes live on different plants, as if in different “houses,” is called dioeciousness in science, and the plant species themselves are called dioecious. It is the dioeciousness of cloudberries and the quantitative predominance of male flowers that causes a sharp fluctuation in the yield of its berries.

There is another reason for yield fluctuations - unstable weather in late May - early June, during cloudberry flowering. Most often, pistillate flowers die from frost. Cloudy and rainy weather during flowering interferes with the work of pollinating insects, as a result of which the flower also dies. In rare years when the weather is good during the cloudberry flowering period, large harvests of its berries occur. In such years, everyone is in a hurry to pick up this tender and fragrant berry, because it ripens very quickly, or, as they say, “leaves.” Cloudberry fruits contain carotene, which is very beneficial for vision (up to 8 mg/%), vitamin C, citric and malic acids, sugars, tannins and pectin. Unfortunately, this berry does not store well, and it is usually covered with sugar or soaked - only in this form can it last all winter. It was pickled cloudberries that A. S. Pushkin, mortally wounded in a duel, asked for in the fateful winter of 1837 before his death.

Cloudberry grows abundantly along the edges of swamps, in dwarf shrub-sphagnum pine forests and dwarf shrub-sphagnum woodlands. It is common on hummocks and ridges in the central parts of raised bogs, but bears fruit here much less frequently than on their edges. The most stable harvest of amber berries is observed in places where the effect of spring frosts is mitigated by the proximity of lakes, marsh lambs and rivers. Here the berry yield in favorable years can reach 300-400 kg/ha. In sphagnum pine forests it decreases to 200 kg, in open forests to 150 kg, in ridge-hollow complexes to 100 kg/ha.

But after the passing of July, the cloudberries “depart”, and scatterings of black and azure balls appear on the berry conveyor - crowberries and blueberries begin to ripen. Black crowberry - Empetrum nigrum L. - is popularly called differently: crowberry, crowberry, bagnovka. Many of the names reflect the characteristics of the berries: crowberry - their juiciness, crowberry - black color. The population of Karelia is not very fond of this berry, but it has big fans in Greenland and the Far North. Crowberry fruits perfectly quench thirst and have a healing effect - they calm the nervous system. The crowberry plant is a “visual aid” for studying the xerophytic (drought-resistant) nature of marsh plants: its evergreen leaves are so small that they resemble needles. They are shiny and hard, with inwardly curved edges and a small number of stomata. Crowberry blooms in the second half of May and ripens in August.

blueberries also bloom - Vaccinium uliginosum L. This is a larger shrub, with rather wide and flat leaves and azure fruits reminiscent of blueberries. It is popularly known as “gonobol” and “drunkard”. But it’s unfair to think that blueberries are intoxicating and make pain go away. In fact, the “culprit” of these symptoms is the wild rosemary, which grows in the neighborhood and spreads a heady smell around itself. Blueberries are a very variable plant. In a damp forest, it is a rather tall, up to half a meter, highly branched shrub, with large, oval, entire leaves and berries collected in clusters. In a raised bog, among brown sphagnum moss, blueberries have short branches and one or two azure berries. But most of all, blueberries prefer to live in damp forests and along the edges of swamps. Here its berries are large, with a waxy coating and greenish pulp. Unlike blueberries, this berry does not stain your mouth and hands.

Blueberry fruits are different. Take a closer look and you will see: on some bushes they are spherical, on others they are oval, on others they are barrel-shaped. When you pick blueberries, there are simply not enough definitions to designate the shaped diversity of its berries - here there are “pears”, and “turnips”, and “diamonds”, and “cubes”, in a word - almost the entire set of polyhedrons. Many people underestimate and do not collect blueberries, but their berries are very useful: they contain sugar, citric, malic and ascorbic acids, and tannins. Juices and jams with wonderful aroma and taste can be made from blueberries.

But now August is coming to an end, and the berry conveyor belt moves inexorably further. , marsh cranberries begin to ripen . This most popular and productive berry in the northwestern regions of our country has a special role: it is what ends the berry season and begins the next one. In the spring, as soon as the swamp has time to free itself from snow, lovers rush to it to feast on snowy cranberries - “stoneflies”. The overwintered dark red and sweet-tasting berry can be harvested at the end of May and even until mid-June, when the surface of the swamp begins to be decorated with pink clouds of blooming cranberries.

People love this berry and have given it many names: carpal-marya, stonefly. But most of the popular names come from the word “crane”: crane berry, crane berry, zherava. This name is mentioned in written sources of the 16th century. At first, the word “cranberry” meant not the berry itself, but the juice from it (from lingonberries too). In the monuments of the 17th century, this word began to be used to call the berry (“buy polosmin cranberries,” 1671).

The Latin name for swamp cranberry, Oxycoccus palustris L., literally translates as “sour swamp ball.” Cranberries have long been used as food and as a medicinal drug. Its fruits contain up to 4 percent sugars (glucose and fructose), organic acids, mainly citric acid, vitamins P and C, pectin, and tannins. The minerals it contains are also of great benefit: iron, copper, phosphorus, iodine, and in easily digestible compounds. And the preservation of cranberries throughout the winter is ensured by benzoic acid, which has bactericidal properties.

During golden autumn, the surface of the moss swamp is literally strewn with cranberries. Let's lean over the swamp and take a closer look at this plant. Cranberry is a shrub creeping along a moss carpet, with thin, almost thread-like shoots, studded with alternate, small, elongated ovate leaves on very short petioles. Let's turn the leathery leaf over: the inside is almost white with a waxy coating - this is how the cranberry protects itself from the heat and drought in the swamp. Yes, oddly enough, there are often droughts in the swamp. The fact is that the thin roots of this shrub do not go deep into the moss carpet, but penetrate into it by 5-10, at most 15 cm. The top layer of the moss swamp has the same structure as sand - and the rain quickly “falls through” "through him. As soon as the dry and hot weather lasts for several days, all the marsh shrubs begin to suffer from thirst. Cranberries are no exception.

In Karelia, everyone is accustomed to the fact that in one year there will be so many cranberries that you can’t even pick them, and in the next you won’t find them even during the day. What is the reason for the “whims” of cranberries? Some blame the weather, others condemn the draining of the swamps, and others believe that the collectors armed with “harvesters” are to blame. Indeed, everyone is right about something, but the main reason is the special requirements of this berry for the amount of heat and moisture. By its origin, cranberry is a very ancient plant, formed in a warm and humid climate, therefore, even today, heat and moisture are the main factors of its productivity. In the conditions of Karelia, any disruption in the weather, especially in the spring and summer, negatively affects the berry harvest. Over the last period, the maximum yield of cranberries was noted in 1974, when it was very warm both during the period of bud formation (June - July, 1973) and during flowering and ripening of berries. The minimum harvest was in 1983, when return frosts were observed in the spring of both 1982 and 1983. Long-term observations of cranberry fruiting have shown that not only this year’s crop suffers from summer frosts, but bad weather also echoes into the next year. We decided to check our observations using a computer, and the machine, based on our data, derived a formula for the future harvest: the warmer it was in June-July, the more berries are expected next year.

Where to look for cranberries? Many people know from experience that there is usually more of it at the edges of a swamp than in the middle. Others go for cranberries on the “recesses” near the lambs. And this is correct - in such places the effect of frost is always mitigated by the protection of the forest or the proximity of water. The thermophilia of cranberries is clearly visible here. There is even a special name for such places - “thermal shelters”. In them, although not in large areas, the cranberry yield reaches 1000 kg/ha. The average productivity of cranberries does not exceed 50-100 kg/ha. The variety of shapes of cranberries is very interesting. They are strikingly different from each other in a number of ways: ripening time, yield, color, configuration and chemical composition of the fruit, and they are even stored differently. Over twenty types of berries were discovered. All of them are combined into seven groups: round, turnip-shaped, cuboid-shaped, oval, pear-shaped, cone-shaped and diamond-shaped.

Should we try to grow cranberries in culture, giving them everything they like: giving them plenty of water, protecting them from frost, etc. Many similar experiments have been carried out in different regions of our country. In the Baltic states, for example, vast areas of depleted peatlands have been set aside for cranberries. They calculated everything, planted cranberries with cuttings and seeds, watered them when necessary, hid them under a layer of water for the winter - and the cranberries responded to the care: after a few years they produced a good harvest.

What has been done in this regard in Karelia? First of all, we selected the largest-fruited and most productive forms of cranberries and brought their cuttings. We prepared the soil and planted all the forms. But here, too, the “capricious character” of cranberries manifested itself: after a number of years with large yields, up to 4-6 tons per hectare, there was a sharp decrease in yield. It turned out that cranberries need not only warmth and moisture, they also need protection from competitors. “Torn out” from its usual environment, where it lived under the protection of sphagnum mosses, the cranberry is completely unable to withstand the powerful pressure of weeds. Cranberries can be grown in cultivation, but only in small areas where they need to be carefully cared for. After these experiments, research into natural cranberry thickets and their protection from drainage becomes even more important.

Now there is no great need to prove the need to protect berry swamps, a kind of berry conveyor belt, which every year and at certain times supplies our table with valuable and healthy products - cranberries, cloudberries, blueberries. In recent years, much has been done in this direction: early harvesting of cranberries and lingonberries is prohibited, 248 swamp areas are excluded from drainage plans by the Decree of the Council of Ministers of the Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. But the main thing is that we ourselves must take care of the wealth of swamps given to us by nature, this berry conveyor belt, and in no case allow it to break down. It cannot be repaired!

Swamps - at the service of man

Cultivation [edit | edit code]

History of cultivation [edit | edit code]

The beginning of the cultivation of cranberries is considered to be 1816, when amateur gardener Henry Hall (USA, Massachusetts) accidentally noticed that wild cranberries sprinkled with sand from neighboring dunes bear fruit better than those that were not sprinkled. The first attempts to cultivate cranberries were made by improving its natural thickets - individual areas of swamps were leveled, sanding and reclamation work were carried out.

The first information about the creation of artificial industrial cranberry plantations dates back to 1833. Since then, cranberry cultivation has developed rapidly, especially in the United States, where cranberry plantations are now a typical family business.

In Russia, the first small plantation of large-fruited cranberries was created at the end of the 19th century in the St. Petersburg Botanical Garden by E. Regel, but at the beginning of the 20th century, research was interrupted. Interest in large-fruited cranberries arose again in the 1960s and 1970s, and attempts to cultivate them were started both in Russia and in the republics of the former USSR - Lithuania, Latvia, and Belarus.

Currently, in the territory of the former USSR, the greatest successes in the industrial cultivation of large-fruited cranberries have been achieved in Belarus. There are several large industrial plantations and many small private farms growing large-fruited cranberries on areas of 1-3 hectares [15].

In Russia, there is currently only one large plantation of large-fruited cranberries (Kostroma region) [16].

Swamp cranberry is a plant that is not typical for the USA and Canada - pioneer countries in the cultivation of cranberries, so for a long time it remained on the sidelines. However, in the second half of the 20th century, work began on the cultivation of bog cranberries in the USSR. Currently, seven varieties of swamp cranberry are registered in Russia [17].

In 2021, in Russia, in the Arkhangelsk region, the creation of the world's first bog cranberry plantation began [18].

Agricultural technology [ edit | edit code]

Large-fruited cranberries have been grown on special plantations (checks) since the 19th century.

The peculiarity of the large-fruited cranberry, grown in huge quantities in the USA and Canada, is that its fruits have air chambers, so it is one of the few berries that float on the surface of the water. This makes picking berries significantly less labor-intensive compared to conventional manual picking: at the end of the season, the checks with ripe berries are filled with water and special combines are launched that beat this water, and the ripe berries are torn off. After this, all the berries are driven to one edge of the check, where they, clean and washed, are scooped out for further processing [19].

There is also a dry method of harvesting cranberries, but it is much more labor-intensive and therefore is not used on large plantations.

Lingonberry varieties

In the forest, lingonberries have one variety; the size of its fruits and their quality directly depend on the area in which the bush grows. The plant has increasingly begun to be grown on individual plantations and simply in summer cottages. That is why today there are so many varieties of this plant. They all differ in bush size, berry diameter and yield. Below are the most common varieties of lingonberries.

1. "Ruby". The shrub tolerates frosts well down to – 30 °C. Its berries are quite large, their weight reaches 0.25 g. They have a dark red color and a pleasant sweetish taste.
2. "Coral". An ornamental bush, its height reaches 30 cm. The peculiarity of this variety is its high yield, and the fact that the plant will delight with its fruits twice a year.
3. "Red Perl". The lingonberry variety has a fairly voluminous bush, its height is about 30 cm. It pleases with dark red berries that ripen 2 times a year.
4. "Mazovia". The variety is aimed at high yield. The plant itself is small in size, its height does not exceed 20 cm. However, the berries ripen in large quantities, they are red in color and have a sour taste.
5. "Kostroma pink" The bushes are small in size, their height does not exceed 15 cm. The peculiarity of this variety is that the berries ripen in early August and are pink in color. Their taste is sweet and sour.

Obviously, botanists have developed quite a lot of varieties of lingonberries. Each gardener will be able to choose the right plant for himself or grow several varieties at once.

What berries grow in the swamp?

Thanks for the question. I was wondering, what do I know? I had the opportunity to meet quot; in personquot; with cloudberries. Amazing berry. Not only does it have an original taste, but it also has a wonderful effect on the skin of the face and body. By the way, it can also be used for hair.

I know that you can find cranberries in the swamp. This is also a wonderful berry that makes amazing sauces for meat).

I read that sundew grows there (I just didn’t know it was a berry). But I don’t know this berry.

Lingonberries live there too. very tasty and healthy berry. And what kind of jam is made from it?

I won’t forget to mention blueberries! It’s a pity that in our area it is only found frozen.

There is something to strive for).

The wonderful cranberries grow in the swamp. It is simply a storehouse of vitamins and microelements. Helps with the first signs of a cold, as it contains a large dose of vitamin C, removes excess water from the body (relevant during pregnancy), prevents the occurrence of cystitis, etc.

Also in the swamps you can find cloudberries, blueberries, and crowberries.

In our region, cranberries and blueberries grow in the swamps.

Every autumn we go to pick blueberries, a tasty but sour berry.

We usually make jam from blueberries for the winter or grind them like currants with sugar.

Blueberries grow in peat bogs. The berries are bluish-black with a bluish bloom, the leaves have a bluish tint.

Cloudberries and cranberries can also be found in large quantities in the swamp. Cloudberries are a close relative of raspberries, although they are herbaceous plants and not shrubs. Cloudberries have a yellow-orange color and are similar in shape to drupes.

Crowberry or crowberry also grows in the swamps. Black-raven berries are round, shiny.

Arctic princess also grows in the swamp. Otherwise known as northern raspberry. If you look at the photo below, it is not difficult to notice this external resemblance.

I only know cranberries. They make a wonderful fruit drink (drink) and mousse, a delicious dessert.

In the area where I live, there are a lot of swamps nearby. I myself went to the swamp to pick berries more than once. I can say with confidence that the swamp grows berries such as cloudberries (I love them), blueberries and blueberries (they look and taste very similar), cranberries (very sour), and lingonberries.

I myself do not live directly in a swampy area, but I know that in the north (in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug) cloudberries grow in swamps. A very tasty berry, I even had to pick it once. And in my opinion, cranberries grow in the swamps, I have never picked them, but they collect them somewhere not so far from us and we sometimes buy them.

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Of course, the most famous swamp berry is the cranberry. Blueberries (drunkard, water-drinker, fool) are also often found in the swamps. In sunny meadows you come across lingonberries. There is also a funnel (the berries resemble a raven's eye), which quenches thirst well.

Not just cranberries. But also blueberries, blueberries, lingonberries, and boneberries. Cloudberries grow in the northern swamps.

We have a lot of berries growing in the swamp. In the open swamp only cranberries grow, and in the swamp which is located in the forest (it’s drier there) you can pick berries such as: cloudberries are one of my favorite berries, blueberries, blueberries, lingonberries - all these berries are very useful for the body.

We started studying books for little smart people in the category Computer Science, Logic, Mathematics, where one of the first questions for a child is knowledge of berries, which usually grow in swamps. CRANBERRY is considered the correct answer (or one of them, it’s good if modern children at least name it, as the creators of this educational brochure obviously thought). Although we also visited other gifts of the swamps, at the same time, especially since some relatives live in the Nizhny Novgorod region and periodically spoil us with their still preserved forest delicacies -)

There are quite a lot of berries. There is no need to talk about cranberries, which everyone called it worth remembering blueberries - this is a very healthy berry. We also need to remember blueberries. Blueberries are good for health. Various delicacies are also made from it. Yogurts, curds, jam. I've even seen baked goods using blueberries.

Meaning and application[edit | edit code ]

Cranberries are used in the preparation of fruit drinks, juices, kvass, extracts, jelly, and are good sources of vitamins. The leaves can be consumed as tea.

A special feature of cranberries is that their berries can be stored fresh until the next harvest in wooden barrels filled with water [20].

The berries are used as an antiscorbutic remedy for colds, rheumatism, sore throat, vitamin deficiencies, as well as in the food and alcoholic beverage industries [12].

Picking wild cranberries, along with other northern berries, is a traditional activity for residents of the northern regions. Often, selling wild berries is one of the main earning opportunities for residents of remote places [21].

Etymology [edit | edit code]

Latin word oxycoccos

comes from the Greek.
ὀξύς - sour and κόκκος - berry, to taste the fruit. The first European settlers in America called cranberries cranberries (literally “crane berries”) because the open flowers on the stems reminded them of the neck and head of a crane. In 17th-century New England, cranberries were sometimes called bearberries because people often saw bears eating them. The words oxycoccos (specific epithet of the species Vaccinium oxycoccos
) and Oxycoccus (subgenus and section name) should not be confused. M. Vasmer considers the etymology of the Russian word “cranberry” unclear [6]. The connection with the crane, which is indicated by Zheltov cited in Vasmer’s dictionary [7], cannot be excluded, especially since cranberry in some languages ​​has dialect designations indicating this bird (Russian “crane” and “crane” [8], Belarusian zhuraviny, Ukrainian crane, German Kranebeere, English cranberry, etc.).

Botanical description [edit | edit code ]

Morphology [edit | edit code]

All types of cranberries are creeping evergreen shrubs with flexible thread-like rooting stems from 15 to 30 cm long [3] [9].

The root system is taproot. A fungus lives on the roots of cranberries, the threads of which tightly connect with the root cells and form mycorrhiza. The fungal threads take up nutrient solutions from the soil and transfer them to the roots.

The leaves are alternate, from 3 to 15 mm long, from 1 to 6 mm wide [3], ovate or oblong with a short petiole. The leaf blade is dark green, the bottom is ashy (white), remaining for the winter. On the lower surface of the leaf there is wax, which prevents water from flooding the stomata and thus protects the plant from disruption of its normal functions.

The flowers are light purple or pink, regular, with the stigma facing downwards (drooping). On a peduncle, which can be quite long (in the common cranberry its length can be almost 5 cm [3]). There are four lobes of the calyx. The corolla is deeply four-parted (but there are also flowers with five petals [10]); petals are bent back. There are eight stamens. One pestle. Ovary inferior. In the conditions of the European part of Russia it blooms in May-June. The lifespan of one common cranberry flower is 18 days.

Flower formula:

∗ C a ( 4 ) C o ( 4 ) A 4 + 4 G ( 4 ¯ ) <(4)>;Co_<(4)>;A_<4+4>;G_<(<4>>)>> > [11] .

The fruit is a spherical, ellipsoidal or ovoid red berry [3]. The size of the berry grown in the swamp reaches 16 mm. Cranberries are characterized by ornithochory: the fruits are eaten by birds, which carry its seeds over long distances. Every year, one plant produces several hundred berries [12].

Distribution and ecology [ edit | edit code ]

In nature, all types of cranberries grow in damp places: in transitional and raised bogs, in sphagnum coniferous forests, and sometimes along swampy shores of lakes [3].

Cranberries are very light-loving, but not demanding on mineral nutrition [12].

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Quote from BLUMERIN The bluish lights flickering at night in the swamps and the intoxicating aroma of wild rosemary have a bewitching effect on people since ancient times. Many swamp secrets have been revealed, but how many more unsolved green silence conceals itself?.. V.S. Grebennikov, entomologist, artist and writer, wrote: “If you love nature very much, then on happy days of communication with it, nature responds to this love, sometimes endowing you with unusually clear vision and telling you its innermost secrets one after another.” Swamps are excessively moist areas of land on which peat accumulates. They occupy a significant part of the earth's surface, according to some estimates - up to ten percent. In order for flooded land to acquire the status of a swamp, it needs to accumulate a layer of peat of at least thirty centimeters. The thickness of the thickest layers reaches six meters or more. Over time, peat turns into coal - brown, stone, anthracite. Swamps play the role of a natural water filter; they are orderlies in the ecosystem of our planet. Valuable berry plants grow in the swamps: cranberries, blueberries, lingonberries, cloudberries, crowberries and many medicinal herbs - calamus, trefoil, marsh wild rosemary, water pepper and others. Heather, the brother of wild rosemary, is an excellent honey plant. A drink from the heather Forgotten a long time ago, But it was sweeter than honey, Drunker than wine. They boiled it in cauldrons and drank it with the whole family, the little mead makers, in caves underground. (R. Stevenson, ballad “Heather Honey”) Heather honey is reddish in color, thick and aromatic, tart and bitter in taste - one of the most valuable varieties of honey. If we look at the swamps from the other side, we will see places fraught with terrible dangers. In the bogs there are many so-called “windows” - puddles or small lakes with clear, clean water, the banks of which are traps: thin layers of peat, and under them water abysses. And attractive meadows covered with lush greenery and bright flowers are treacherous flower beds hiding bottomless abysses beneath them. Even small animals, running into such a clearing, risk falling through and dying... Three sisters from the lingonberry family grow in the swamps: cranberries, blueberries and lingonberries; all three are tasty and healthy. But why is one of them - blueberries - called a fool or a drunkard? Why is she invariably accompanied by a handsome wild rosemary? And why does his brother, heather, walk like a restless person all over the world? ...This story happened in ancient times. Two brothers lived in the swamps: the older one was called Bagul, and the younger one was Veres. Once Bagul said: “Soon I will bring a beautiful girl to our house who will become my wife and your sister.” Veres was very happy: now he will be able to spend more time in the forest and swamps, doing what he loves - studying Nature. And then the long-awaited day came: Dove appeared in their house. Next to the powerful, strong and domineering Bagul, she looked like a fragile reed; her huge dark blue eyes were often clouded with a veil, as if she were about to cry. Bagul did not offend her, he madly loved his young wife, but that was how he was by nature: rude, taciturn and reserved. Darling tried to get up early, do all her chores and run away to Veres - to the swamps. They were very similar: their souls, like two halves, strove for each other. They themselves did not realize that this was love, the love they dream about and which is rarely found in real life. Bagul began to notice that his wife hugged and kissed him less often, hurrying to the swamps. And Veres began to avoid his brother, feeling guilty. The brothers began to quarrel, and when Bagul swung at Veres, Dove could not stand it and ran away to the swamps, to her favorite bushes - cranberries and lingonberries. She ran through the quagmire, not noticing that she was approaching dangerous places. Large tears fell from her eyes, which, falling on the swamp moss, turned into blue berries, covered with a bluish coating, as if washed with tears. The berry bushes whispered after the girl: - Stop, stop - it’s dangerous there... But Little Blue continued to walk through the swamps, becoming almost weightless from the tears she had cried and said: - I will stay with you, dear sisters... So she remained in the swamps, turning into a wonderful berry - blueberries. For its healing properties and taste, people call it swamp grapes. Unlike their evergreen sisters, blueberry leaves turn purplish brown in the fall and fall off during the winter. Having discovered the disappearance of Dove, the brothers went in search. They walked through the swamps until late in the evening and finally saw a crimson light on a hummock, in the middle of the swampiest place. As they came closer, they realized that it was Dove’s favorite scarf that was illuminating the dark place. For the first time in his life, the courageous Bagul cried. He remained in the swamps to guard his beloved wife. Over time, it turned into a marsh plant - wild rosemary, which has a strong intoxicating aroma. People cannot pick blueberries for a long time - the smell of wild rosemary causes poisoning. Having lost his brother and his beloved girl, Veres decided to devote his life to people. It turned into a beautiful evergreen plant - heather, which grew over high marshes, came out onto roadsides, entered pine forests, reached dry sandy places, forming the famous heather heaths there. This unpretentious, romantic plant was so loved by people that over time it began to be grown in gardens. https://shkolazhizni.ru/archive/0/n-55274/

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>How lingonberries grow in a swamp