Vaccinium vitis-idaea (
lingonberry or
cowberry) is a short
evergreen shrub in the
heath family that bears edible
fruit,
native to boreal forest and Arctic tundra throughout the Northern Hemisphere from Eurasia to North America. Lingonberries are picked in the wild and used to accompany a variety of dishes in Northern Fennoscandia. Commercial cultivation is undertaken in the U.S. Pacific Northwest.