Cloudberries: Northern Bog Berries, Where to Find and Use Them

Cloudberries are perhaps one of the most mysterious wild berries. They grow in raised bogs on sphagnum moss, do not fruit every year, and a single small plant produces only one amber-colored berry. In Scandinavia, cloudberries are highly prized as a delicacy, and due to their high vitamin C content, they are often called the orange of the North. In this part of our guide to berries, we explore how to identify the cloudberry, where it grows, why it often yields little fruit, when it ripens, and how it is consumed.

Latin name	Rubus chamaemorus
Family	Rose family (Rosaceae), blackberry genus
Plant	Perennial, dioecious, herbaceous, 3–12 inches (8–30 cm), with rhizomes
Where it grows	Raised bogs, wet forests; cool northern climates
Blooms	Late spring to early summer, with white flowers
Berries ripen	Mid to late summer
Berries	Up to 0.6 inches (1.5 cm), orange-yellow, sweet-tart, aromatic
Vitamin C	Up to 200 mg / 3.5 oz (100 g)

The cloudberry is a herbaceous blackberry relative with a single berry per stem

The cloudberry is a perennial, 3–12 inch (8–30 cm) tall herbaceous plant belonging to the same genus as raspberries and blackberries. The short, unbranched stems have one to three leaves with five to seven palmate lobes. In late spring to early summer, a single white flower, sometimes with pinkish tips, blooms at the top of the stem. After pollination, an aggregate fruit forms, similar in size to a raspberry, consisting of 5 to 25 drupelets. As it ripens, the berry changes from pale red to amber or orange-yellow, becoming soft and juicy.

An interesting feature of the cloudberry is that while the berry is maturing, the sepals enclose it, opening up again once the fruit is fully ripe. The plant spreads through underground rhizomes that can grow up to 33 feet (10 m) long at a depth of 4–6 inches (10–15 cm), allowing it to form dense clonal patches.

Cloudberries are dioecious, so large patches often remain fruitless

Unlike most plants in the blackberry genus, the cloudberry is dioecious: male and female flowers grow on separate plants, and only the female plants produce berries after being pollinated by the males. Because cloudberries spread extensively via rhizomes, a large area of a bog might be covered by a single-sex clone. When this happens, there are few or no berries in that patch. This is a primary reason why cloudberry yields can be notoriously low and unpredictable in the wild, making commercial cultivation highly challenging.

Cloudberries thrive in raised bogs in cool northern climates

The cloudberry is a northern plant, native to cool temperate, alpine, and Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere. It is widespread across Scandinavia, northern Russia, Canada, and Alaska, but becomes increasingly rare near the southern edges of its range. It thrives in raised bogs, wet peatlands, and sometimes in damp coniferous forests, often forming extensive patches in ideal conditions.

This plant is extremely cold-hardy (surviving in USDA zones 2–5) and requires plenty of sunlight. It demands highly acidic soil with a pH of 3.5–5.0 and constant moisture, typically growing directly in sphagnum moss. While the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) assesses the cloudberry globally as a species of least concern, foraging should always be done sustainably. The berries are scarce, and bog ecosystems are highly fragile and easily damaged by heavy foot traffic.

Cloudberry populations face threats from bog drainage and changing moisture levels

In many regions near the southern limits of its habitat, the cloudberry is becoming increasingly rare. Conservation authorities note that drained peatlands and altered hydrological regimes cause the cloudberry to retreat from its natural habitats. It serves as an important indicator species for healthy bog and wet forest ecosystems, many of which are protected under international conservation networks. The cloudberry has a short blooming period and only sets fruit under the right environmental conditions, making its harvest highly variable from year to year. In regions where it thrives, particularly in Nordic countries, this prized berry is often referred to as "Arctic gold."

Cloudberries ripen in mid to late summer and pack up to 200 mg of vitamin C

Cloudberry fruits typically ripen in mid to late summer (July to August in the Northern Hemisphere). When fully ripe, they are golden-yellow, soft, juicy, sweet-tart, and highly aromatic. Nutritional analyses show that the berries contain up to 200 mg of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) per 3.5 oz (100 g)—hence the nickname "orange of the North"—along with 3.8–4.9% sugars, 0.9–1.4% organic acids, pectins, tannins, and natural pigments. They are also rich in citric and malic acids, vitamin E, anthocyanins, and beta-carotene, though the exact amounts depend heavily on sunlight, rainfall, and temperature during the growing season.

In Scandinavia, cloudberries are enjoyed with cheese, cream, ice cream, and waffles

Cloudberries are rarely grown commercially; they are almost exclusively foraged in the wild. Fresh cloudberries have a distinct, slightly tart flavor, but they are most commonly cooked into jams, juices, tarts, and liqueurs. In Finland, they are traditionally eaten with heated squeaky cheese (leipäjuusto), cream, and sugar. In Sweden, cloudberry jam is a classic topping for ice cream, pancakes, and waffles. In Norway, they are folded into whipped cream and sugar to create the traditional dessert moltekrem.

Wild bog berries: cloudberry, cranberry, bog bilberry, and lingonberry

Raised bogs and their margins are home to several edible wild berries. Among them, the cloudberry is often the rarest and the earliest to ripen.

Berry	Where it grows	Ripens	Berries	Key feature
Cloudberry	Raised bogs, cool northern climates	Mid to late summer	Amber, single berry per stem	Dioecious herbaceous plant
Cranberry	Raised bogs, on sphagnum moss	Late summer to fall, until spring	Dark red	Creeping evergreen shrub
Bog Bilberry	Sphagnum bogs, wet forests	Midsummer to fall	Blue-grey, white flesh	Deciduous shrub
Lingonberry	Bog margins, dry pine forests	Late summer to early fall	Red, in small clusters	Evergreen dwarf shrub

All of these berries thrive in acidic, nutrient-poor peat soils, which makes them very difficult to cultivate in a standard garden. When foraging in bogs, it is important to prioritize safety: step carefully on solid hummocks, avoid foraging alone, and do not wander off marked or familiar paths.

Cloudberries share their bog habitat with other acid-loving berries like cranberries and bog bilberries, and they are botanically related to other members of the blackberry genus, such as raspberries and blackberries.