Commercially cultivated in the United States Pacific Northwest[4] and the Netherlands,[5] the edible berries are also picked in the wild and used in various dishes, especially in Nordic cuisine.

Leaves grow alternately and are oval, 5–30 mm (1⁄4–1+1⁄8 in) long, with a slightly wavy margin, and sometimes with a notched tip.

[8] The fruit is a red berry 6–10 mm (1⁄4–3⁄8 in) across, with an acidic taste, ripening in late summer to autumn.

Vaccinium vitis-idaea keeps its leaves all winter even in the coldest years, unusual for a broad-leaved plant, though in its natural habitat it is usually protected from severe cold by snow cover.

It is extremely hardy, tolerating temperatures as low as −50 °F (−45 °C) or lower, but grows poorly where summers are hot.

In the United Kingdom, the Koralle Group has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

[29] The berries are quite tart, so they are often cooked and sweetened before eating in the form of lingonberry jam, compote, juice, smoothie or syrup.

This mix can be stored at room temperature in closed but not necessarily sealed containers, but in this condition, they are best preserved frozen.

[citation needed] In Sweden the traditional Swedish meatballs are served with lingonberry jam alongside boiled or mashed potatoes and gravy sauce.

In Sweden, Finland and Norway, reindeer and elk steaks are traditionally served with gravy and lingonberry sauce.

In Sweden and Russia, when sugar was still a luxury item, the berries were usually preserved simply by putting them whole into bottles of water.

[citation needed] This traditional Russian soft drink, known as "lingonberry water", is mentioned by Alexander Pushkin in Eugene Onegin.

A traditional Finnish dish is sautéed reindeer (poronkäristys) with mashed potatoes and lingonberries on the side, either raw, thawed or as a jam.

[citation needed] The berries are also popular as a wild picked fruit in Eastern Canada, for example in Newfoundland and Labrador and Cape Breton, where they are locally known as partridgeberries or redberries, and on the mainland of Nova Scotia, where they are known as foxberries.

[citation needed] In Sweden lingonberries are often sold as jam and juice, and as a key ingredient in dishes.