An evergreen shrub 11⁄2 to 2 ft high, erect in habit and heath-like; young shoots very downy. Leaves narrow linear, 1⁄4 to 3⁄8 in. long, blunt, the margins reflexed so as to leave only a narrow slit behind, dark green and soon becoming glabrous, mostly arranged in threes. Flowers in terminal clusters, stalkless and inconspicuous. The female plant bears globose white berries in clusters, each berry 1⁄4 in. across.
Native of Portugal and Spain; introduced in 1774. It grows very well near London in sandy peat, and resembles its close ally Empetrum nigrum, but is taller and larger leaved, and the berry is white with only three seeds. A neat little evergreen, but not showy.