# Bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi) *Uva-ursi, the bear’s grape; *Arbutus uva-ursi* of older books; *Arctostaphylos uva-ursi* (L.) Sprengel; in pharmacy *Uvae ursi folium*, the leaf* **Known today as.** *Arctostaphylos uva-ursi*, a low trailing evergreen shrub of heaths and barren hills across the northern hemisphere, common in the Scottish Highlands. Its leathery leaves, half an inch to an inch long, are spoon-shaped, rounded at the tip, dark shining green above with sunken veins and paler below with a coarse network of raised ones, without smell but “very astringent and somewhat bitter.” Waxy reddish-white bells hang in small clusters in May and June, and the berry is bright red, smooth, and mealy. The dried leaf is the medicine. Kind: Plant > **Caution.** The European agency does not recommend the leaf for men, nor for anyone under eighteen, as both call for medical advice, nor in pregnancy or breast-feeding, and it is contraindicated in kidney disorders. Nausea, vomiting, and stomach-ache have been reported, and the urine may turn greenish brown. Fever, painful urination, spasms, or blood in the urine call for a doctor. ## What was it used for? For the bladder and kidneys. Grieve gives the infusion as soothing, astringent, and markedly diuretic, “Of great value in diseases of the bladder and kidneys,” used in urethritis and cystitis, and explains its action by arbutin, which she says is largely absorbed unchanged and excreted by the kidneys, with an antiseptic effect on the urinary passages. Its tannin was so abundant that the leaves tanned leather in Sweden and Russia. ## What does modern science say? The European Medicines Agency’s herbal committee accepts the leaf as a traditional herbal medicine, “exclusively based upon long-standing use,” for the relief of symptoms of mild recurrent lower urinary tract infections in women, such as burning or frequent urination, after a doctor has excluded serious conditions (monograph of 2018). Its assessment report finds arbutin, a glucoside of hydroquinone, at 5 to 16 per cent of the leaf, with methyl arbutin and 10 to 20 per cent tannins. LiverTox finds that it “has not been specifically linked to serum aminotransferase elevations or to instances of clinically apparent acute liver injury.” ## Pharmacognosy and toxicology - **arbutin**: a glucoside of hydroquinone, 5 to 16 per cent of the leaf - **methyl arbutin**: - **tannins**: 10 to 20 per cent **Mechanism.** Not established in the sources read for this entry. **Standing.** European Union herbal monograph (2018): traditional use, “exclusively based upon long-standing use,” for mild recurrent lower urinary tract infections in women, after a doctor has excluded serious conditions. ## What lore surrounds it? The Greek *Arctostaphylos* and the Latin *uva-ursi* mean the same thing, the bear’s grape, and Grieve offers two reasons for the name: that bears were thought to eat the fruit with relish, or that its rough, unpleasant flavour was fit only for bears. The black bearberry of the northern Scottish mountains, she adds, is the badge of the clan of Ross. The berries feed grouse; cattle avoid the plant. ## What did the older authorities say? **Mrs. M. Grieve.** “There are records that it was used in the thirteenth century by the Welsh ‘Physicians of Myddfai.’” Clusius described it in 1601, Gerhard of Berlin and others recommended it in 1763, and it entered the London Pharmacopoeia in 1788, “though was probably in use long before.” **King’s American Dispensatory.** “The keynote to its use is relaxation of the urinary membranes, as is evidenced by catarrhal discharges and a feeling of weight and dragging in the loins and perineum.” Its tannin, oxidised in the body, gives the urine a dark colour. ## Sources - Grieve, M. *A Modern Herbal*, “Bearberry.” As published on botanical.com. - Felter, H. W., & Lloyd, J. U. (1898). *King’s American Dispensatory*, vol. 2, “Uva Ursi.” Internet Archive, kingsamericandis02kinguoft. - European Medicines Agency, Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products. *European Union herbal monograph on Uvae ursi folium (Bearberry Leaf)*. EMA/HMPC/750269/2016, 30 January 2018. - European Medicines Agency, Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products. *Assessment report on Uvae ursi folium*. EMA/HMPC/750266/2016, 30 January 2018. - LiverTox: Clinical and Research Information on Drug-Induced Liver Injury, “Uva Ursi.” National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, updated 2020. NCBI Bookshelf. - European Medicines Agency, Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products. *European Union herbal monograph on Uvae ursi folium (Bearberry Leaf)*. EMA/HMPC/750269/2016, 30 January 2018. - European Medicines Agency, Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products. *Assessment report on Uvae ursi folium*. EMA/HMPC/750266/2016, 30 January 2018. - LiverTox: Clinical and Research Information on Drug-Induced Liver Injury, “Uva Ursi.” National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, updated 2020. NCBI Bookshelf. --- *Bearberry.* In *Materia Medica*, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1, revised 2026-10-16. The Thinking Press. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/bearberry Historical description, not medical advice.