Bunchberry, also called dwarf cornel, is a small herb that grows bright red fruit. Bunchberry plants have slender stems that grow 4 to 8 inches (10 to 20 centimeters) tall. Four to six leaves grow in a circle near the top of the stem. In the early summer, a cluster of small greenish-white flowers develop on a short stalk above the leaves. Four white specialized leaves, called bracts, surround the flower cluster. People often mistake the bracts for flower petals. By late summer, the flowers develop into bright red fruits. The fruits are edible and some people like them in puddings.
Bunchberries grow in moist woods and bogs from Greenland to Alaska and eastern Asia, and from New Jersey to Minnesota. They also grow in the Appalachian Mountains south to Virginia, and in the Pacific Coast States.
