Empetrum

Empetrum is a genus of three species of dwarf evergreen shrubs in the heath family, Ericaceae. They are commonly known as crowberries and bear edible fruit. Species of Empetrum include: E. nigrum (crowberry) and its tetraploid form, sometimes given its own name hermaphroditum, E. eamesii and E. rubrum.

== Description == All three species are evergreen mat forming shrubs, with small, light green needle-like leaves long. The flowers are small and either bisexual or dioecious. The fruit is a fairly dry berry. The plant has slender, wiry, spreading branches covered with short, narrow, stiff leaves, the margins of which are recurved so as to form a hollow cylinder concealing the hairy under face of the leaf, which protects against excessive loss of water from the leaf.