Uva Ursi (Kinnikinnick) — Smokable Herbs

Kinnikinnick (from the Unami for "smoking mixture") is a the common name of Uva Ursi or Bearberry in Canada and the United States. One of several related species referred to as bearberry, its specific epithet uva-ursi means "grape of the bear" in Latin, similar to the meaning of the generic epithet Arctostaphylos (Greek for "bear grapes"). One of our favorite herbs, this one obviously gets its name from the fact that the berries seem to be a favorite food of bears! Arctostaphylos uva-ursi is a small procumbent woody groundcover shrub 5–30 cm high. The leaves are evergreen, remaining green for 1–3 years before falling. The fruit is a red berry.