Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (Kinnikinnick)

Kinnikinnick (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi) is a circumboreal evergreen groundcover native to Alaska, Canada, Greenland, and the Lower 48. Including the Oregon and Washington coast. The name is Algonquin for 'smoking mixture,' a reference to its widespread traditional use.

Small white-to-pink urn-shaped flowers in spring; bright red drupes ripen in summer and persist through winter. Leathery evergreen leaves flush bronze-red in winter cold.

One of the most documented ethnobotanical plants of North America. Traditional food, medicine, smoking leaf, and dye for at least 53 Indigenous Nations including the Makah, Quileute, Hoh, Coast Salish, Upper Skagit, Skokomish, Tolowa, Yurok, and many Plains, Boreal, and Arctic peoples. Leaves are widely documented as a urinary-tract medicine.

The fruits are highly important to black bear (and moderately to grizzly bear), plus songbirds and many small mammals.

Sun to partial shade. Poor sandy infertile acid soil. Explicitly salt-tolerant per OSU, excellent for coastal dune and bluff gardens. Drought-tolerant once established. Hardy Zone 2 to 8.

Excellent coastal plant: salt-spray tolerant, thrives on exposed dunes and bluffs. Difficult to transplant. Choose siting carefully.

Note on deer: FEIS documents moderate winter browse by black-tailed deer, mule deer, bighorn sheep, mountain goat, and elk. Not a deer-proof plant. Protect young stock until established.

Classic coastal companion for Beach Strawberry, Salal, Beach Grass, and Evergreen Huckleberry.