BEARBERRY (Arctostaphylos Uva-Ursi), a small shrub of the heath family, Ericaceae (q.v.), native to dry, sandy or rocky soil and very widely distributed in high northern regions. In the British Isles it grows on stony alpine heaths; in North America it is found on rocks and bare hills from Labrador and Alaska south to New Jersey, Colorado and California. The trailing, much branched stems, often somewhat matted on the ground, bear leathery, evergreen, entire leaves, small heath-like white flowers, and smooth, red, insipid, berry-like fruits (drupes) about 3 in. in diameter. The alpine bearberry (A. alpina), a smaller de pressed-prostrate shrub, with veiny, toothed leaves and black, juicy, edible fruit, grows on high mountain heaths in the British Isles and from Arctic America south in high altitudes to British Columbia, Colorado and northern New England. (See MAN