Editing Empetrum nigrum (section)

== Cultivars and selections ==

Documented named material is thin, so the section is short by design.

'Irland' is a European variety used in clonal micropropagation research rather than a widely marketed garden cultivar. It is the cultivar in the 2025 microcuttings and container studies: in vitro establishment on Woody Plant Medium, ex vitro rooting improved by mycorrhizal preparations (88.9% rooting on agroperlite with 'Mycofriend'), and a strong response to fertilizer–mycorrhiza combinations in small peat containers, with slow-release high-phosphorus fertilizer clearly detrimental.<sup>[[#cite_note-8|[8]]]</sup><sup>[[#cite_note-13|[13]]]</sup> It is a documented research line, not a release with grower trial data.

'Bernstein' is a nursery-listed selection of black crowberry with golden-yellow foliage that shifts to orange and bronze seasonally; a slow-growing undershrub reaching about 20 cm tall and 50 cm wide, it is sold as dioecious — a female plant needs at least one male nearby to fruit — with small pink flowers in May–June and black berries ripening in September.<sup id="cite_ref-12">[[#cite_note-12|[12]]]</sup> The listing claims sweet berries and hardiness to about −45.5 °C (zone 2), and recommends full sun to partial shade with non-chalky, moist acidic-to-neutral soil (pH 4.3–7); these remain commercial nursery claims — no formal cultivar registration or independent trial was located.<sup>[[#cite_note-12|[12]]]</sup>