Lingonberries: red berries from conifer forest and heath
Lingonberries grow on low, evergreen dwarf shrubs in conifer forests, on heaths and in the mountains. In late summer and autumn they carry clusters of bright red, sour berries that keep for a long time when cooked. Here you learn to recognise the lingonberry by its leathery leaves with dark dots underneath, to rule out bearberry and lily of the valley, to pick gently and to cook the berries into a compote.
- Picking 30–60 minutes for a bowl; cooking 15 minutes
Explicado de forma sencilla
Lingonberries grow on very small shrubs in conifer forests and in the mountains. They are red, sour and hang in small clusters. Cooked with a little sugar they become a compote that keeps for a long time.
The lingonberry's leaves stay green even in winter. They are firm like leather, and on the underside they have many tiny dark dots. These dots are the recognition mark.
The poisonous lily of the valley also has red berries, but completely different, large soft leaves. If there are no dots under the leaf, it is not a lingonberry.
Cómo funciona
The lingonberry is adapted to poor, acidic soils. Its leathery, evergreen leaves lose little water and do not have to be grown anew every year – that saves strength in a place with few nutrients.
The dark dots on the leaf underside are small glands. You can see them with the naked eye if you look closely, and they are the best feature against the similar bearberry.
The berries contain a lot of acid and natural substances that slow the growth of germs. That is why cooked lingonberry compote keeps unusually long, and in Scandinavia the berries used to be stored simply covered in water.
Lo que de verdad importa
Turn the leaf over. Glossy upper side, rolled edge and dark dots underneath – that is the lingonberry. The bearberry has no dots but a fine net of veins and tends to creep over stony ground.
Pick by hand. Berry combs are faster but tear off leaves and shoots and are banned in some areas. Leave unripe, whitish berries hanging.
Bogs are off limits. The related cranberry grows there, but bogs are protected, sensitive and can be dangerous because you sink in.
Seguridad: a qué debes prestar atención
Lily of the valley berries are poisonous. They hang on a single stalk between large, soft leaves, not on small woody twigs. If poisoning is suspected, call the poison line and keep the remains.
Wash berries growing close to the ground thoroughly – fox tapeworm eggs can stick to them. Cooking kills them reliably.
Fill cooked compote into clean jars and store cool. If it smells fermented or shows mould, throw it away.
Paso a paso
Where lingonberries grow
Lingonberries like acidic, poor soils: open pine and spruce forests, heaths and dwarf-shrub heaths in the mountains. They often grow together with bilberries as a low carpet, only ankle- to calf-high. The berries are ripe from August to October.
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Where lingonberries grow
Lingonberries like acidic, poor soils: open pine and spruce forests, heaths and dwarf-shrub heaths in the mountains. They often grow together with bilberries as a low carpet, only ankle- to calf-high. The berries are ripe from August to October.
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Leathery leaves with dots
The leaves are small, egg-shaped, dark green, glossy and firm like leather. The edge is slightly rolled under. Turn a leaf over: on the paler underside you see many tiny dark dots. These dots are the most important feature.
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Berry clusters at the tips
The berries are round, pea-sized, bright red and hang in small clusters at the ends of the twigs. On top each berry has a small remnant of the flower. They taste clearly sour and slightly bitter.
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Rule out bearberry and lily of the valley
Bearberry grows as a creeping carpet, its leaves have no dots underneath but a fine net of veins, and its berries are mealy and bland. Lily of the valley has large, soft, lance-shaped leaves and red berries on a single stalk, not on dwarf-shrub twigs. Only berries on twigs with dotted leathery leaves are lingonberries.
No dots under the leaf = not a lingonberry.
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Pick gently
Pick the berries with your fingers, cluster by cluster, and leave unripe berries hanging. Do not tear off twigs. Berry combs are banned in some areas because they damage the plants – when in doubt, only by hand. Leave enough for animals.
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Seleccionar y lavar
Tip the berries onto a light cloth and pick out leaves, needles, unripe and squashed berries. Check once more that nothing else is in between. Then wash them thoroughly in several rounds.
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Cook into compote
Put the berries in a pot with a little water and boil them for about 10 minutes until they burst. Sweeten with sugar or honey. Filled hot into clean jars, lingonberry compote keeps a long time. It goes with meat, flatbreads, porridge and pancakes.
Errores frecuentes
- Not checking the leaf underside
- Stripping whole shrubs with combs or rakes
- Walking into bogs
- Eating them unwashed
- Tearing off twigs
Resumen rápido
Materiales
Recipiente rígido de recolección (caja, cesta o taza)
Rígido, para que las bayas no se aplasten
Una especie por recipiente: nunca mezcles nada desconocido
Bolsa de agua apta para uso alimentario
For washing
Úsalo solo para agua potable, nunca para productos químicos ni combustible.
Olla metálica (acero inoxidable, aluminio, titanio)
For compote
Caliente: riesgo de quemaduras.
Adecuado para
- August to October
- Conifer forests, heaths, mountains
- Stores: keeps a long time when cooked
No adecuado para
- Bogs and protected areas – do not enter
- Red berries on plants without leathery, dotted leaves
- Picking with a comb or rake where it is banned
Requisitos previos
- Being able to tell lingonberry and bearberry apart by the leaf underside
- Knowing lily of the valley berries
- Knowing the region's collecting rules
Seguridad
- The related cranberry grows in raised bogs. Bogs are sensitive, often protected and can be dangerous because you can sink in. Do not enter, do not collect.
- Berries close to the ground can be contaminated with fox tapeworm eggs. Wash them thoroughly; cooking kills the eggs reliably.
Cómo funciona
The lingonberry is an evergreen dwarf shrub: its leaves stay on the shrub in winter, are firm and leathery and carry tiny dark gland dots on the underside. The berries hang in small clusters at the shoot tips. Their acidity and natural preservatives make cooked lingonberries keep for a long time.
Ventajas
- Easy to recognise by the leaf underside
- Keeps a long time
- Often in large amounts
- Also in the mountains
Desventajas
- Very sour raw
- Laborious picking
- Pocas calorías sin azúcar
- Regional collecting rules
Conocimiento en profundidad
Fundamentos técnicos
Lingonberries have long been part of the cuisine in Scandinavia, the Alpine region and Eastern Europe – classically with game and pancakes. Cooked, the berries keep unusually long because they contain a lot of acid and natural preservatives.
The lingonberry is easy to recognise if you never forget a single feature: the dark dots on the leaf underside. Anyone who also avoids bogs and protected areas and picks only by hand collects safely and gently.
Variantes
- Stirred raw
- Stir washed lingonberries with sugar until the sugar dissolves. In Scandinavia this is a well-known preparation. Store cool and eat soon.
- Berries in winter
- Lingonberries often stay on the shrub into winter and are then milder from the frost. Under snow they are hard to find, but the evergreen leaves give the plant away.
Errores frecuentes
- Not checking the leaf underside
- Stripping whole shrubs with combs or rakes
- Walking into bogs
- Eating them unwashed
- Tearing off twigs
Límites y riesgos
- No es una clave de identificación completa
- Applies to Central Europe and the Alps
- Collecting rules differ by country and area
- Sin promesas de curación
Alternativas de materiales
Deducido de las propiedades de los materiales: un sustituto debe tener todas las propiedades relevantes. Ten en cuenta las indicaciones sobre el sustituto.
- Recipiente rígido de recolección (caja, cesta o taza)
- Olla metálica (acero inoxidable, aluminio, titanio) (Caliente: riesgo de quemaduras.), Botella de acero inoxidable de pared simple (Calienta solo botellas de pared simple, sin pintura ni plástico; quita la tapa antes de calentarla.), Botella térmica de doble pared (Nunca la calientes directamente.), botella de PET (transparente, máx. 2 litros) (No lo calientes ni lo pongas al fuego.), Bidón de agua apto para alimentos (Usa solo recipientes que nunca hayan contenido productos químicos ni combustible.), Recipiente de almacenaje hermético apto para alimentos (Llénalo solo cuando esté limpio y completamente seco; nunca uses recipientes que hayan contenido productos químicos.), Bidón plegable o bolsa para agua (Protégelo de objetos punzantes.), Jarra medidora, Bolsa de agua apta para uso alimentario (Úsalo solo para agua potable, nunca para productos químicos ni combustible.), Frasco o tinaja de fermentación (Usa solo recipientes aptos para alimentos, de vidrio, de gres con esmalte apto para alimentos o de plástico alimentario. No uses recipientes de metal para alimentos ácidos.), Bolsas de alimentos reutilizables con cierre (Usa solo bolsas aptas para alimentos; no las uses con agua hirviendo salvo que el fabricante lo permita expresamente.), Bolsa o cesta de recolección que deje pasar el aire (Recolectar cada especie por separado para que no se mezcle nada desconocido)
- Bolsa de agua apta para uso alimentario
- Botella de acero inoxidable de pared simple (Calienta solo botellas de pared simple, sin pintura ni plástico; quita la tapa antes de calentarla.), Botella térmica de doble pared (Nunca la calientes directamente.), botella de PET (transparente, máx. 2 litros) (No lo calientes ni lo pongas al fuego.), Bidón de agua apto para alimentos (Usa solo recipientes que nunca hayan contenido productos químicos ni combustible.), Recipiente de almacenaje hermético apto para alimentos (Llénalo solo cuando esté limpio y completamente seco; nunca uses recipientes que hayan contenido productos químicos.), Bidón plegable o bolsa para agua (Protégelo de objetos punzantes.), Frasco o tinaja de fermentación (Usa solo recipientes aptos para alimentos, de vidrio, de gres con esmalte apto para alimentos o de plástico alimentario. No uses recipientes de metal para alimentos ácidos.), Bolsas de alimentos reutilizables con cierre (Usa solo bolsas aptas para alimentos; no las uses con agua hirviendo salvo que el fabricante lo permita expresamente.)
- Olla metálica (acero inoxidable, aluminio, titanio)
- Botella de acero inoxidable de pared simple (Calienta solo botellas de pared simple, sin pintura ni plástico; quita la tapa antes de calentarla.)
Los resultados proceden exclusivamente de entradas estructuradas. No se genera ninguna instrucción improvisada.
Fuentes (5)
- Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertung (BfR) (2017): Risiko Pflanze – Einschätzung und Hinweise · Lily of the valley with red berries as a poisonous plant
- Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertung (BfR): Giftpflanzen: Wie kann man sich schützen und was ist bei einer Vergiftung zu tun? (Fragen und Antworten) · Only collect what you recognise reliably; what to do in case of poisoning
- Bundesrepublik Deutschland (gesetze-im-internet.de) (2009): Gesetz über Naturschutz und Landschaftspflege (Bundesnaturschutzgesetz – BNatSchG), insbesondere § 39 und § 30 · Protected habitats such as bogs; collecting only in small amounts and without damage
- Robert Koch-Institut: RKI-Ratgeber Echinokokkose · Transmisión de la tenia del zorro por huevos ingeridos; lavado, calentamiento, lavado de manos
- Gesundheitsportal Österreich (gesundheit.gv.at), Bundesministerium für Soziales, Gesundheit, Pflege und Konsumentenschutz: Vergiftungsinformationszentrale (VIZ) · Centro de información toxicológica de Austria (VIZ), disponible las 24 horas; en caso de peligro agudo, 112 o 144