Cloudberry

The “gold of the bogs” from the Finnish 2-euro coin – amber cloudberries are the most prized wild fruit of the North.

The cloudberry is a low perennial 10–25 cm tall, with a few wrinkled, kidney-shaped leaves and solitary white flowers. It is dioecious, and only female plants bear fruit: the berry resembles a raspberry, red at first and golden orange, soft and highly aromatic when ripe. It grows on raised bogs and in the tundra, spreading mainly by long rhizomes. Harvests vary greatly, because the flowers are easily killed by spring frosts.

Significance in the country

The cloudberry’s flower and fruit decorate the Finnish 2-euro coin, and the plant is regarded as the treasure of Finland’s bogs – the berries fetch high prices, and cloudberry jam with leipäjuusto cheese is a dessert for special occasions. The berries are also made into a sweet cloudberry liqueur (lakkalikööri).

Where it grows

On peat bogs throughout the country, most abundantly in northern Finland – in Lapland, North Ostrobothnia (Pohjois-Pohjanmaa) and Kainuu.

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