Kinnikinnick

If you were not a local, you would not want to get this word if you were in a spelling bee! But as a resident of the Northwest, you've probably seen and heard this odd sounding plant name from time to time. And chances are you have seen Kinnikinnick (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi) growing because it is a popular ground cover, being native and very hardy. It's also known as Bearberry and Mountain Tobacco, as well as at least a dozen other common names. According to one reference it is pronounced KINNY-kin-ICK, or Kinn-ICK-innick. I've always heard it as just kinnick-kinnick, which is probably the morphed,  easy-to-say version.

The odd name also describes an historical Native American smoking product, used by a host of tribes in the west and elsewhere. The Kinnikinnick leaves are mixed with other plants to make the smoking mixture. The plant is well documented by Meriwether Lewis, in 1805 (see link below). According to this reference, Lewis and Clark did not discover Kinnikinnick per se, but they did send samples to back to President Jefferson. It is thought that Johnathan Carter first noted the plant in the upper Mississippi valley in 1760.

Back in the present, we have a large swath of the stuff growing in our yard and it is blooming profusely this week. (3/30/2013). The tiny, pink, bell-shaped flowers are about 1/8 inch high. They hang in clusters, similar to Manzanita flowers, but smaller. In fact, Manzanita is in the same genus as Kinnikinnick.

The bright red fruits ripen in late summer and are described as mealy, tasteless, but edible, with large hard seeds! M. Lewis stated it was "a very tasteless and insippid fruit." Ok, no need to add this one to my summer berry menu! However, the fruits can last well into winter and are common food for bears, hence the ursi name.

Fruit photo courtesy Wikipedia

Links:

Native Plant Society

Smoking Mixture Reference

Bearberry Information

Lewis and Clark Notes