regnum-plantae:

Vaccinium vitis-idaea ‘Fireballs’, Ericaceae

This attractive, low-growing evergreen shrub is probably familiar to most people from northern Europe, where it is known by a large number of common names, but if not the plant itself, many will certainly recognise the small, glossy red fruit, the tart and refreshing lingonberry or cowberry. 

Native to much of the Northern Emisphere, this evergreen species is extremely hardy and grows well in the partially shaded understory of taller plants on moist, acidic soil, where it spreads laterally through underground stems. 

Here pictured is the cultivar ‘Fireballs’, which flowers and fruits earlier in the summer, bearing a generous amount of larger, persistent berries. I have two small plants at my allotment and I’ve been collecting and freezing a handful of berries most weeks for a few months now, but they don’t seem to be done fruiting yet, so the crop season has proven to be longer than I expected.

I’ll probably use them, together with the blaeberries I collected earlier on in September, for another tasty jam.