You wade through colour, surrounded by an incredible carpet of tiny plants, all blooming madly in the long days of the midnight sun. • Red and black bearberries (Arctous rubra and Arctous alpina, both formerly in the genus Arctostaphylos) are tundra plants with downward-facing white urn-shaped flowers. During the early part of their blooming, clear bubble-like lenses develop at the base of the petals. Red bearberry grows on moist tundra and loses its leaves in winter; its berries are translucent red, juicy and sour. The red berries ripen in August or September and are best after the first frost.