CROWBERRY, or CRAKEBERRY  , the English name for a low-growing heath-like shrub, found on heaths and rocks in Scotland, Ireland and mountainous parts of England . It is known botanic-ally as Empetrum nigrum, and has slender, wiry, spreading branches covered with short, narrow, stiff Ieaves, the margins of which are recurved so as to form a hollow cylinder concealing the hairy under face of the leaf—a device to avoid excessive loss of water from the leaf under the exposed conditions in which the plant grows . The minute flowers are succeeded by black, edible, berry-like fruits, one-fourth to one-third of an inch in diameter . The plant has a wide distribution, occurring in suitable localities throughout the north temperate zone, and on the Andes of South America .