Kinnikinnik spelled backwards

Arctostaphylus usi-ursa 6.26.20.jpg

Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, June 26, 2020

Common & scientific name
Kinnikinnik, Arctostaphylos uva-ursi

Family
Heath, Ericaceae

Location
Linkins Lake, 12,000’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Kinnikinnik, or Bearberry (see its scientific name), is a ground-hugging, evergreen shrub with thick, leathery, paddle-shaped leaves that are yellow-green in the spring, dark-green in the summer, and reddish-purple in the fall.  Its tiny, bell-shaped, pink-tipped, white flowers nod in clusters from red stems.  Bright-red berries succeed the flowers and persist into winter.  This wonderful alpine ground cover is equally at home at sea level back east.