Evergreen, weakly branched slender shrub of the lingonberry family (15 — 30 cm tall). Shoots are thin, dark brown with ascending flower-bearing twigs. Young twigs pubescent. The leaves (5-16 mm long, 2-6 mm wide) are alternate, ovate or oblong, pointed, leathery, short-petiolate, the plate is shiny on top, dark green with integral edges folded down, light green on the bottom, almost white from a wax coating. Flowers one to four, drooping, placed at the ends of last year's shoots. Peduncles are long, pubescent with two pointed bracts. Calyx with four rounded, ciliated sepals at the edge, initially green, later red. The corolla (5-7 mm long, 1.5-2 mm wide) is wheel-shaped, with pink-red oblong-lanceolate lobes bent on the outside. The stamens are eight, and with short extended densely hairy filaments, the pistil is one, the ovary is lower. The fruit — dark red juicy berry (8-18 mm in diameter). Berries vary in shape from spherical to pear-shaped, multi-seeded, wintering. The seeds (1-2 mm long) are ovoid-elongated, sickle-shaped at the top with a coarse mesh skin. Cranberry (Oxycoccus) USES 1. Cranberry juice with honey helps with sore throat and cough. Dilute honey in a glass of warm cranberry juice – 3 Art. spoons Gargle 3 times a day and drink in small sips. 2. Morse from cranberries relieves fatigue, increases brain activity and increases work capacity. 3. Cranberry leaves. A third of a glass of cranberry leaves per 500 ml of water, boil for 10-15 minutes, cool, strain, add a glass of cranberry juice and drink 4 times a day for intestinal disorders. 4. Cranberry mashed 1:1 with honey. Take 1-2 times a day for headache. 5. If you regularly consume cranberries, the possibility of kidney stone formation decreases. 6. To strengthen thin and brittle nails, rub cranberry juice into them twice a day. 7. Regular consumption of cranberry berries and juice normalizes high blood pressure. 8. To increase immunity, you should eat cranberries or their juice, apples and walnuts every day. 9. Mash the cranberries and mix together with petroleum jelly. Helps with itching and abscesses. Apply the ointment twice a day in a thin layer for a week. 10. Cranberry leaves – 1/2 cup per 500 ml of water. Boil for 10-15 minutes, strain. Gargle with a warm decoction for tonsillitis 3 times a day.
