Some 170 species of evergreen, sometimes deciduous, shrubs, often spreading by underground stems. Leaves simple, alternate, with a short petiole. Flowers white, urn-shaped, usually appear in late spring or early summer. Fruit is a capsule, often enclosed by a fleshy colored calyx. Native to North and South America, West Indies, and Japan to Australia.
Gaultheria: after Jean-François Gaulthier (1708-1758), botanist and physician of Quebec.
Pronunciation:
gawl-THEE-ree-a
Family:
Ericaceae