Cloudberries belong to the rose family, and carry the latin name Rubus chamaemorus. Cloudberries have a circumpolar distribution. They grow around the North pole from Scandinavia and Sibiria to Alaska and Canada. Cloudberries grow best on white moss peat bog, but are also found on solid land of soil with raw humus cover. The nutrient supply seems to have little significance for the density of cloudberries, as they can dominate both on bird cliffs where it is very nutritient as well as on inland areas with little nutrition. Low pH (3,5-4,5) and stable water supply is important. The optimal growth conditions for cloudberries is an airy, but acidic peat thatch with a steady water supply.

Cloudberry flowers. Female on the left and male on the right side.

The cloudberry plant has three botanical characteristics: it is an one-yearly perennial, the plant is a dioecious species with separate male and female flowers on separate individuals, it has vegetative propagation from rhizoms. The rhizomes are offshoots from the plant that grow underground. From the rhizoms new plants evolve when the mother plant is weak or cut off. This characteristic they have developed because it is difficult for seeds to stick and grow in white moss or raw humus where cloudberries usually grow.

The flowering begins in May and the pollination takes place with insects, such as flies and bumblebees. For pollination to be successful, it should be above 10 degrees Celsius and little rain. After fertilisation, it takes 30-50 days for the berries to mature, depending on temperature and rainfall. The berry consists of many small fruiting bodies that grow up from the base of the flower and become small fruit "eyes". A cluster of such eyes turns into one juicy berry. Cool and cloudy weather produces pretty berries, with less sweetness. Warm and sunny weather gives small, bright berries, which are sweeter. This is because the ripening process is fast in warm sunshine and slower in grey, cold weather.

Cloudberries contain 50-70 mg of sugar and ascorbic acid per 100 grams of berries. They have a high content of benzoic acid, which means that they can be stored in a cool place for several weeks without being attacked by fungi. Cloudberries from the coastal areas and in scrubland on the inland are more red-yellow than berries that grow in open places inland. This is because more sun and higher temperatures are most common in inland areas, which bleaches the berries and ripens them quickly. In terms of nutrition, there is little difference, but coastal cloudberries are better suited for cold storage than inland berries, because they are juicier.

Cloudberries that grow in thickets are often juicier and prettier than on open bogs. Photo: Jorunn Jernsletten.