Gaultheria procumbens

Gaultheria procumbens
Gaultheria procumbens in Hammond, Indiana
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Asterids
Order:	Ericales
Family:	Ericaceae
Genus:	Gaultheria
Species:	G. procumbens
Binomial name
Gaultheria procumbens L.

Gaultheria procumbens, also called the eastern teaberry, the checkerberry, the boxberry, or the American wintergreen, is a species of Gaultheria native to northeastern North America from Newfoundland west to southeastern Manitoba, and south to Alabama.^[1] It is a member of the Ericaceae (heath family).^[2]

Growth and habitat

G. procumbens is a small, low-growing shrub, typically reaching 10–15 cm (3.9–5.9 in) tall. The leaves are evergreen, elliptic to ovate, 2–5 cm long and 1–2 cm broad, with a distinct oil of wintergreen scent. The flowers are bell-shaped, 5 mm long, white, borne solitary or in short racemes. The berry-like fruit is actually a dry capsule surrounded by fleshy calyx,^[3] 6–9 mm diameter.

The plant is a calcifuge, favoring acidic soil, in pine or hardwood forests, although it generally produces fruit only in sunnier areas.^[4] It often grows as part of the heath complex in an oak-heath forest.^[5][6]

G. procumbens spreads by means of long rhizomes, which are within the top 20–30 mm of soil. Because of the shallow nature of the rhizomes, it does not survive most forest fires, but a brief or mild fire may leave rhizomes intact, from which the plant can regrow even if the above-ground shrub was consumed.^[4]

This plant has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.^[7]

Edibility

19th century illustration

The fruits of G. procumbens, considered its actual "teaberries", are edible, with a taste of mildy sweet wintergreen. The leaves and branches make a fine herbal tea, through normal drying and infusion process. For the leaves to yield significant amounts of their essential oil, they need to be fermented for at least three days.^[8]

Teaberry is also a flavor of ice cream in regions where the plant grows. It likewise inspired the name of Clark's Teaberry chewing gum.

Wildlife value

Wintergreen is not taken in large quantities by any species of wildlife, but the regularity of its use enhances its importance. Its fruit persist through the winter and it is one of the few sources of green leaves in winter. White-tailed deer browse wintergreen throughout its range, and in some localities it is an important winter food. Other animals that eat wintergreen are wild turkey, sharp-tailed grouse, northern bobwhite, ring-necked pheasant, black bear, white-footed mouse, and red fox. Wintergreen is a favorite food of the eastern chipmunk, and the leaves are a minor winter food of the gray squirrel in Virginia.^[9]

Common names

Other common names for G. procumbens include American mountain tea, boxberry, Canada tea, canterberry, checkerberry, chickenberry, creeping wintergreen, deerberry, drunkards, gingerberry, ground berry, ground tea, grouseberry, hillberry, mountain tea, one-berry, partridge berry, procalm, red pollom, spice berry, squaw vine, star berry, spiceberry, spicy wintergreen, spring wintergreen, teaberry, wax cluster, and youngsters.^[7][10]

While this plant is also known as partridge berry,^[11] that name more often refers to the ground cover Mitchella repens.

Traditional use

The plant has been used by various tribes of Native Americans for medicinal purposes.^[12]

See also

• Wintergreens
  • Gaultheria humifusa - alpine wintergreen
  • Gaultheria ovatifolia - western teaberry or Oregon spicy wintergreen

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gaultheria procumbens.

• Blanchan, N. (2005). Wild Flowers Worth Knowing. Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. 

External links

•  "Wintergreen". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911.