Empetrum nigrum var. asiaticum Nakai ex H. Itô; E. sibiricum V. N. Vassiljev var. japonicum (K. Koch) Tzvelev.

Plants 20–50(–100) cm tall, much branched. Branchlets reddish brown; young branchlets puberulous. Leaves linear, 4–5 × 1–1.5 mm, glabrous, adaxially shiny and rugulose with im- pressed midvein, margin slightly reflexed, glandular ciliate at first, apex obtuse. Bracts ovate, ca. 1 mm, margin ciliolate. Flowers sessile. Sepals 6; outer sepals ovate-orbicular, ca. 1.5 mm; inner sepals dark red, petaloid, lanceolate, as long as outer ones, apically involute. Stamens 3; filaments linear, ca. 4 mm; anthers small. Ovary ca. 0.6 × 0.8 mm, glabrous; style very short; stigma radially 6–8-lobed. Fruit subglobose, ca. 5 mm in diam., purplish red to black when ripe.

Forests, stony hills; 700–1500 m. N Heilongjiang, E Nei Mongol (Da Hinggan Ling) [Japan, Korea, Mongolia, E Russia].