Bunchberry

Bunchberry

Chamaepericlymenum canadense

Other Names: Canadian dwarf cornel, Canadian bunchberry, quatre-temps, crackerberry, creeping dogwood

Family: Cornaceae (Dogwood family)

Range: Native to eastern Asia (Japan, Korea, northeastern China and the Russian Far East), northern USA, Colorado, New Mexico, Canada and Greenland

Native: Native

Native Habitat: Forests, generally mountain forests in the continental US.

Bloom Time: May to September

Notes:
Unlike most of its relatives, which are trees and shrubs, this plant is a creeping, ground covering perennial. It’s known to form dense carpets under trees, which are often made up of clones.
Like its relatives, those white petals you’re seeing aren’t really petals – they’re bracts. So the actual flowers are the tiny bits in the middle. Later in the season, those flowers form bright red berries. The berries can be eaten, though apparently the seed instead is pretty dense, and not fun to chew.

Bunchberry must have a whorl of six leaves to be mature enough to bloom.
This is one of the first plants that helped me realize how diverse species can be. I’ve known about dogwood trees for years, but finding out that this tiny little plant was a close relative to those trees was a revelation to me. (Must have been on a Girl Scout camping weekend – that event occurred way back in the misty depths of my mind.)
Formerly Cornus canadensis. This was recently changed as the dogwoods have been reclassified. (Chamaepericlymenum was created at the same time as the Swida genus name.) The new name is from the Greek chamai – for ground and dwarf, and periklymenon, a mythical creature whose name was given to honeysuckle. (Not exactly sure how that relates, but that’s where it came from.) Canadense and canadensis (they change based on the gender of the genus name) are names often given to natives of North America – that means they’re definitely present in Canada, but may be native to the United States and maybe even Mexico as well.

Spring buds in early May

_{Updated 8/11/17 to change genus, and add pictures taken since original entry. Updated 5/23/23 to current WordPress format. Updated for content and pictures 1/1/26.}