Shining – Gaultheria procumbens
Filled out with the enthusiasm brought by a sunny, warm day (first after a long and dreary winter), we had our first hike in the forest. In the shaded areas the snow cover was still knee deep but on the warmed up slopes, underneath bare oak trees, a carpet of glossy, purple leaves was shining in the sun – the wintergreen.
Gaultheria procumbens (wintergreen, teaberry, mountain tea) – is an adorable low growing evergreen shrub native to northeastern North America usually found in pine and hardwood forests and as a part of the oak-heath forest, favouring acidic soil. It reaches about 10-15 cm high with glossy, leathery and fragrant leaves (when crushed) that will turn purple in the fall, especially in sunny areas. It has white, bell-shaped flowers (typical of fam. Ericaceae) and “berry-like” red fruits, which persist through the winter.
For the gardens it is an excellent groundcover beneath other acidic-lovers, in part-shade to full shade locations and it has received an AGM from Royal Horticultural Society.
But I don’t know if any of this would matter until you see it shining brightly one early day of spring
Gaultheria procumbens – in early spring after the snowmelt
Besides its ornamental qualities as an evergreen groundcover, it has been used traditionally for making a fine herbal tea and also for the extraction of wintergreen oil (used for flavouring of chewing gum, candies, medicinal). Indigenous people used Gaultheria for medicinal purposes too, most commonly for relieving aches and pains and rheumatism. The colonists who first started to use the wintergreen leaves as a substitute for the imported tea during the Revolutionary War, also adopted its medicinal uses.
Gaultheria procumbens flowering in Killarney, Ontario among Cladonia
Most wintergreen oil is produced synthetically today, but in traditional herbal medicine oil extracted from fresh leaves is preferred. The active ingredient of this oil is methyl salicylate, an aspirin- like compound, which like aspirin has proven anti-inflammatory, antirheumatic and analgesic properties.
Gaultheria procumbens also has wildlife value – the leaves and fruits will be consumed in the winter by various animals such as wild turkey, red fox, northern bobwhite, pheasant, eastern chipmunk….not to mention that the pollinators are indulging in its flowers in the spring.
Propagation: by seeds, cuttings, divisions.
Note: Gaultheria honors Jean-Francois Gaulthier – physician and botanist in the French colony of Quebec in mid-17th.
It has arrived! So pleased for you. This is a lovely plant, it may do well with us in our woodland (acidic soil). The bee is also rather funky, do you know what variety?
Thank you – we can finally say it’s spring here! (but still below zero in the night) Would you like some seeds? – you can spread them in the woodland and leave it to the nature… I don’t know about the bee – should be a ‘native’ one for sure :)
That would be great, thank you! Desmodium are struggling on after their mouse attack, glaucidium are slowly slowly but fine and unfortunately the jacaranda didn’t make it through.
I have to go to the mail-post tomorrow anyway so they’ll be on the way shortly. Don’t worry about Desmodium -I’ll collect in the fall for sure.
That’s how the Glaucidium is usually, interesting how long it takes to develop the first true leaf (I must do some research on this).
Did you also know that if you eat the fruit..which is delicious by the way….in the dark it will spark against your teeth!?! I have only heard this and never tried it, but I do love the berries!
Richters sold an “improved’ Gaultheria a while back. I do not know it and do not know if it is improved
Inger
A fine post, with a lot of information and a poetic first paragraph. Glad to hear you have better weather at last. It’s raining here today, but maybe tomorrow we will see some leaves shining in the sun.
Hi, yes I like the fruits too but never eat them in the dark :) The sparkling might be because of the methyl salicilate, which is fluorescent.
I read that a while ago they used to do wintergreen flavoured candies which were renowned for sparkling when snapped in two – for the same reason.
Hello Inger,
I never heard of it either. Honestly I don’t know how could it be improved. If it’s about the essential oil the growing conditions can affect the concentration of its active ingredient (methyl salicilate – the higher the better).
Thank you – maybe it was the effect of the sun :) We are not done with winter yet, even in our small garden there is a bit of snow on the shady side, but I think we left behind the worst of it. I wish you a sunny day tomorrow!
Wonderful photos of this plant in the wild. I have often thought of adding it to the native plant areas of my garden – I didn’t realize it had such a handsome winter appearance!
Thank you – it would be happy in any part-shade to shady area under trees. ‘Wintergreen’ for less-snow years or first
to shine in the garden after the snowmelt.