The plant's pretty white flowers form a bunch at the top of a flowering stem that grows a few centimetres above ground level. If you happen across a patch of especially green, luxuriant growth during your wanderings across the tundra meadow, you can be sure you've come to an animal den, old human camp site, dump site, or bird roost. The arctic terrestrial environment is generally lacking in nitrogen, and plants take full advantage of nitrogen-rich areas such as these. Bladder campions, mountain sorrel, mouse-ear chickweed, and stitchwort are often found in these locations. Black, plump crowberries are a favorite of the Inuit, but their many seeds give them a gritty taste.
Blueberries are small, but sweet.
Bright red cranberries are great for cooking, although they taste like sour apples when eaten raw. In late summer, the foliage of alpine bearberry turns a brilliant scarlet, coloring entire hillsides. The berries become almost black when ripe. Despite their delicious appearance, though, the taste is very disappointing. Lichens, while seemingly unspectacular, are nonetheless vital elements of the arctic environment.