bunchberry, (Cornus canadensis), creeping perennial herb of the dogwood family (Cornaceae). The small and inconspicuous yellowish flowers, grouped in heads surrounded by four large and showy white (rarely pink) petallike bracts (modified leaves), give rise to clusters of red fruits. Bunchberry is found in acid soils, bogs, and upland slopes in Asia and from Greenland to Alaska and south as far as Maryland, New Mexico, and California.