Cranberries

The name “cranberry” derives from the Pilgrim name for the fruit, “craneberry”, because the small, pink blossoms that appear in the spring resemble the head and bill of a Sandhill crane. The cranberry is one of North America’s three native fruits, blueberries and the Concord grape completes that list.

Cranberries grow on vines and undamaged cranberry vines will survive indefinitely. Some vines in Massachusetts are more than 150 years old.

Native Americans used cranberries in a variety of foods, the most popular was pemmican – a high protein combination of crushed cranberries, dried deer meat and melted fat – they also used it as a medicine to treat arrow wounds and as a dye for rugs and blankets.