The cranberry gets its name from Dutch and German settlers in the United States, who called it “crane berry”. The flowers’ light pin petals during the bloom in late spring resemble the head and bill of a crane, hence the name crane berry, shortened later to Cranberry.

 

A native of North America, the cranberry was a favourite of the Indians who invented cranberry sauce sweetened with maple sugar or honey. The fruit is grown wild in the sandy cool temperature bogs of Massachusetts and New Jersey, as well many other states and Canada.

The fruit is high in Vitamin C.