Uva-ursi
Arctostaphylos uva-ursi
Bearberry. A prostrate evergreen of acid, sandy ground. Traditional urinary folk herb; not a berry snack (fruit is mealy). Arbutin-containing leaves are not a food-first green.
GROW → HARVEST → EAT → DRY → POWDER → CAPSULE → GUMMY — forms are not equivalent. Food first.
Identity
Also called: bearberry, kinnikinnick
What it is
Bearberry. A prostrate evergreen of acid, sandy ground. Traditional urinary folk herb; not a berry snack (fruit is mealy). Arbutin-containing leaves are not a food-first green.
From the existing encyclopedia
Uva Ursi is a dried botanical traded as cut leaf, flower, seed, or root for tea and seasoning. Toast whole seeds briefly in a dry pan to wake volatile oils before grinding. Works alongside green tea or ginger in everyday beverage rotation. When substituting dried Uva Ursi for fresh, use about one-third the volume and bloom in fat or hot water before adding acid or dairy.
Edible portions
Safety Not treated as food on this site.
Growing
- Climate. 2–6 acid sand/rock
- Light. Full sun to light shade
- Soil. Acid, lean, very well-drained
- Planting. Slow groundcover; not a kitchen crop.
Traditional uses
Traditional use Folk urinary herb — traditional use
AAA interpretation Traditional use is not automatically evidence, and evidence is not automatically a shopping recommendation.
Safety
- Not food. Not a self-prescribed UTI protocol. Hydroquinone-related chemistry is why this is not a salad.
Next steps
Sources
- USDA PLANTS Database — taxonomy and range (verify current entries)
- No USDA FoodData Central nutrient profile is attached here. That is not a claim that the plant contains no nutrients.
- State cooperative extension growing guides — verify for your region
- Integrated from the existing aaaLifetime / quantum-biohack encyclopedia corpus (unique text preserved where it was not boilerplate).
Honest incompleteness is preferred to fabricated completeness. If a section is missing, no record for it is attached here — not a claim that the plant lacks that characteristic, and not that it was omitted as a secret.
Internal quality class B. Good foundation: enough unique information to exist as its own destination.