Canadian Bunchberry

Description:

This plant is known by several different names: Canadian Bunchberry, Dogwood Bunchberry, Quatretemps, Creeping Dogwood, Crackerberry and Canadian Dwarf Cornel. It is a species of flowering plant in the Dogwood family, but unlike its relatives, which are mostly trees and shrubs, Canadian Bunchberry only grows to about 20 cm (8 in.) tall.

Habitat:

Canadian Bunchberry is native to Northern Asia, Northern USA, Canada and Greenland. It is a forest plant needing cool, moist soil. It is often found growing along the edges of moist forests, on old tree stumps, in mossy areas on the forest floor, or in other moist open areas.

Notes:

There are many of these plants growing in the forest that borders our local marsh. Where they do grow, there are many of them close together and they are easily one of the most prominent ground level plants in many of our local forests. Earlier in the summer they have pretty white flowers and in later summer/early fall, they produce clusters of bright red berries.