Native Plants As Habitat For Wildlife - Native Plant Society of ...

Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (bearberry or kinnikinnick)
Description:
Both the common name and the botanical name refer to the fact that bears like the fruit. A
member of the heath family, bearberry is low evergreen shrub, native to the prairies,
which forms a prostrate mat about 15 cm (6 in.) in height of thick, glossy green leaves,
usually turning a bronzy green in winter. The pink and white flowers are urn-shaped. The
red fruit are bright scarlet, 1 cm (less than 0.5 in.) in diameter, and persist through the
winter - if not eaten by bears and other wildlife.
‘Vancouver Jade’ is a cultivar with fragrant, dark pink flowers which spreads more
readily.
Culture:
Usually found on dry sandy slopes, they will grow in full sun or light shade on welldrained
soil. Some references say they prefer acid soils.
Use:
Kinnikinnick makes an excellent ground cover and would be in place in a perennial
border or rock garden. The berries are eaten by birds.
Propagation:
They are very difficult to transplant from the wild, but softwood cuttings are readily
rooted. Seed should be stratified for 3 months at 40C prior to sowing.
Crataegus spp. (hawthorn)
Description:
The genus name is from the Greek "kratos" which means strength and refers to the hard
wood. Large shrubs, or small trees somewhat resembling a crabapple in fruit and form,
hawthorns are attractive in spring when in flower and in late summer and fall when in
fruit. The fruit is generally red and about one-half inch in diameter. The common name
"hawthorn" is a combination of the word "haw", meaning a hedge or enclosure for which
they are commonly used in England as "hedgerows", and "thorn" referring to the nature
of their armament - not a tree recommended for climbing! The leaves are highly variable
among species - from slightly lobed to deeply incised. Because the species hybridize
easily, identification is not always easy.
Crataegus arnoldiana ('Arnold' hawthorn) is about 4 m (12 if) and makes an attractive
small tree with shiny leaves, single white flowers and scarlet fruit. It can be pruned to a
single trunk.
'Snowbird' is a hybrid (C. oxyacantha x C. succulenta) from Agriculture Canada's
Morden Research Centre in Manitoba. It has double white flowers and is 3.3 to 4 m (10-
12 ft). It is resistant to cedar-apple rust.
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