''Empetrum rubrum'', known as red crowberry or diddle-dee (

Chilean Spanish Chilean Spanish ( or ) is any of several varieties of the Spanish language spoken in most of Chile. Chilean Spanish dialects have distinctive pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, and slang usages that differ from those of Standard Spanish, with ...

: '' Murtilla de Magallanes''), is a species of plant in the

heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and is characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a coole ...

family,

Ericaceae The Ericaceae () are a Family (biology), family of flowering plants, commonly known as the heath or heather family, found most commonly in acidic and infertile growing conditions. The family is large, with about 4,250 known species spread acros ...

Distribution and habitat

The species is distributed in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

from

Talca Talca () is a city and commune in Chile located about south of Santiago, and is the capital of both Talca Province and Maule Region (7th Region of Chile). As of the 2012 census, the city had a population of 201,142. The city is an important ...

(35°S) to

Cape Horn Cape Horn (, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which is Águila Islet), Cape Horn marks the nor ...

(55°S), in areas of adjacent

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, in the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; ), commonly referred to as The Falklands, is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and from Cape Dub ...

, and in

Tristan da Cunha Tristan da Cunha (), colloquially Tristan, is a remote group of volcano, volcanic islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is one of three constituent parts of the British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascensi ...

. One of its northernmost natural growing places is Laguna del Maule. In Chile, it often grows in high-altitude areas close to the

tree line The tree line is the edge of a habitat at which trees are capable of growing and beyond which they are not. It is found at high elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually low ...

and can tolerate alpine conditions such as strong winds and high sun exposure. In the Falkland Islands, it is the dominant species across large areas of lowland and upland dwarf shrub heath.

Uses

Its fruits are edible.

In culture

It is referenced in the Falkland Islands' unofficial national anthem.

Gallery

image:Empetrum rubrum (Terre de Feu).jpg, Close up of ''Empetrum rubrum'' in

Navarino Island Navarino Island () is a large Chilean island, with an area of and a coastline of . It is located between Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, to the north, and Cape Horn, to the south. The island forms part of the Communes of Chile, Commune of Cabo ...

Tierra del Fuego Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South America, South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main is ...

. image:Empetrum rubrum.jpg, ''Empetrum rubrum'' from Torres del Paine National Park

References

rubrum Plants described in 1806 Flora of Argentina Flora of Chile Flora of the Falkland Islands Flora of Gough Island Flora of South Georgia Island {{Ericaceae-stub