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
Spiegato in modo semplice
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.
Come funziona
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.
Ciò che conta davvero
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.
Sicurezza: a cosa devi fare attenzione
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.
Passo dopo passo
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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Selezionare e lavare
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.
Errori comuni
- Not checking the leaf underside
- Stripping whole shrubs with combs or rakes
- Walking into bogs
- Eating them unwashed
- Tearing off twigs
Panoramica rapida
Materiale
Contenitore rigido per la raccolta (scatola, cesto o tazza)
Rigido, così le bacche non si schiacciano
Una specie per contenitore – non mescolare mai nulla di sconosciuto
Sacca per l'acqua per alimenti
For washing
Usare solo per l'acqua potabile, mai per sostanze chimiche o combustibili.
Pentola di metallo (acciaio inox, alluminio, titanio)
For compote
Calda: pericolo di ustioni.
Adatto a
- August to October
- Conifer forests, heaths, mountains
- Stores: keeps a long time when cooked
Non adatto a
- 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
Prerequisiti
- Being able to tell lingonberry and bearberry apart by the leaf underside
- Knowing lily of the valley berries
- Knowing the region's collecting rules
Sicurezza
- 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.
Come funziona
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.
Vantaggi
- Easy to recognise by the leaf underside
- Keeps a long time
- Often in large amounts
- Also in the mountains
Svantaggi
- Very sour raw
- Laborious picking
- Poche calorie senza zucchero
- Regional collecting rules
Approfondimento
Contesto tecnico
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.
Varianti
- 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.
Errori comuni
- Not checking the leaf underside
- Stripping whole shrubs with combs or rakes
- Walking into bogs
- Eating them unwashed
- Tearing off twigs
Limiti e rischi
- Non è una chiave di determinazione completa
- Applies to Central Europe and the Alps
- Collecting rules differ by country and area
- Nessuna promessa di guarigione
Alternative di materiali
Ricavate dalle proprietà dei materiali: un sostituto deve avere tutte le proprietà rilevanti. Tieni conto delle note sul sostituto.
- Contenitore rigido per la raccolta (scatola, cesto o tazza)
- Pentola di metallo (acciaio inox, alluminio, titanio) (Calda: pericolo di ustioni.), Bottiglia in acciaio inox a parete singola (Scalda solo bottiglie a parete singola, senza vernice o plastica; togli il tappo prima di scaldare.), Bottiglia isolata a doppia parete (Non scaldare mai direttamente.), Bottiglia in PET (trasparente, max 2 litri) (Non scaldare e non mettere sul fuoco.), Tanica per acqua adatta agli alimenti (Usa solo contenitori che non hanno mai contenuto sostanze chimiche o carburante.), Contenitore per alimenti ermetico e adatto al contatto con il cibo (Riempi solo quando è pulito e completamente asciutto; non usare mai contenitori che prima contenevano prodotti chimici.), Contenitore o sacca d'acqua pieghevole (Proteggere da oggetti appuntiti.), Brocca graduata, Sacca per l'acqua per alimenti (Usare solo per l'acqua potabile, mai per sostanze chimiche o combustibili.), Barattolo o vaso per fermentazione (Usa solo contenitori adatti agli alimenti, in vetro, in gres smaltato idoneo al contatto con gli alimenti o in plastica per alimenti – niente contenitori di metallo per alimenti acidi.), Sacchetti per alimenti richiudibili (Usa solo sacchetti adatti agli alimenti; non usarli con acqua bollente, a meno che il produttore non lo consenta esplicitamente.), Sacchetto o cesto da raccolta ben aerato (Raccogliere ogni specie separatamente, così nulla di sconosciuto si mescola)
- Sacca per l'acqua per alimenti
- Bottiglia in acciaio inox a parete singola (Scalda solo bottiglie a parete singola, senza vernice o plastica; togli il tappo prima di scaldare.), Bottiglia isolata a doppia parete (Non scaldare mai direttamente.), Bottiglia in PET (trasparente, max 2 litri) (Non scaldare e non mettere sul fuoco.), Tanica per acqua adatta agli alimenti (Usa solo contenitori che non hanno mai contenuto sostanze chimiche o carburante.), Contenitore per alimenti ermetico e adatto al contatto con il cibo (Riempi solo quando è pulito e completamente asciutto; non usare mai contenitori che prima contenevano prodotti chimici.), Contenitore o sacca d'acqua pieghevole (Proteggere da oggetti appuntiti.), Barattolo o vaso per fermentazione (Usa solo contenitori adatti agli alimenti, in vetro, in gres smaltato idoneo al contatto con gli alimenti o in plastica per alimenti – niente contenitori di metallo per alimenti acidi.), Sacchetti per alimenti richiudibili (Usa solo sacchetti adatti agli alimenti; non usarli con acqua bollente, a meno che il produttore non lo consenta esplicitamente.)
- Pentola di metallo (acciaio inox, alluminio, titanio)
- Bottiglia in acciaio inox a parete singola (Scalda solo bottiglie a parete singola, senza vernice o plastica; togli il tappo prima di scaldare.)
I risultati provengono esclusivamente da voci strutturate. Non vengono generate istruzioni improvvisate.
Fonti (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 · Trasmissione della tenia della volpe attraverso uova ingerite; lavare, riscaldare, lavarsi le mani
- Gesundheitsportal Österreich (gesundheit.gv.at), Bundesministerium für Soziales, Gesundheit, Pflege und Konsumentenschutz: Vergiftungsinformationszentrale (VIZ) · Centro antiveleni in Austria (VIZ), attivo 24 ore su 24; in caso di pericolo acuto 112 o 144