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American Cranberry

Vaccinium macrocarpon

American cranberry is the trailing evergreen vine of acid bogs that yields the familiar tart red fruit. A creeping groundcover for permanently wet, sandy, acidic ground and rain-garden margins.

Family

Ericaceae

Type

shrub

Lifespan

perennial

Height

0.25–0.5 ft

Spacing

1–6 ft apart

Light

part shade

Soil moisture

wet

Soil pH

acidic

Bloom

May, June, July

Bloom colors

white, pink

Wildlife value

butterflies, pollinators, mammals, songbirds, larval host

Caterpillar hosts

~294 butterfly & moth species

Landscape uses

groundcover

Native states

CA, CT, DE, IL, IN, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, NC, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, SD, TN, VA, VT, WA, WI, WV