Herb: Portuguese Crowberry


Latin name: Corema album


Synonyms: Empetrum album


Family: Empetraceae (Crowberry Family)



Edible parts of Portuguese Crowberry:

Fruit - raw or cooked.

Description of the plant:



Plant:
Evergreen
Shrub

Height:
30 cm
(11 3/4 inch)

Habitat of the herb:

Maritime sands and dunes on the Atlantic littoral.

Propagation of Portuguese Crowberry:

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in a cold frame. Stored seed requires 5 months warm stratification followed by 3 months at 5°C. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Cuttings of half-ripe wood, July/August in a frame. Cuttings of mature wood of the current year's growth, November in a frame.

Cultivation of the herb:

Maritime sands and dunes on the Atlantic littoral.

Medicinal use of Portuguese Crowberry:

None known

Known hazards of Corema album:

None known

Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future.