Gaultheria procumbens
Common name:
Wintergreen
Pronunciation:
gawl-THEE-ree-a pro-KUM-benz
Family:
Ericaceae
Genus:
Type:
Broadleaf
Native to (or naturalized in) Oregon:
No
- Evergreen shrublet, creeping, to about 6 inches (15 cm) tall, stoloniferous, space new plants 1 ft (30 cm) apart, and in time provides a dense ground cover. Leaves simple, crowded at branch tips, elliptic to elliptic-obovate, 2-5 cm by 1-2 cm, dark green, glossy above. Flowers urn-shaped, 7 mm, white or pinkish, single or rarely in small racemes. Fruits globose, 8-15 mm, red, very aromatic when rubbed, persistent from October to late spring.
- Sun or part shade, acid soils, slow growing.
- Hardy to USDA Zone 3 Native to eastern North America, from Newfoundland to Manitoba and Minnesota, south to Georgia and Alabama.
- Gaultheria: after Jean-François Gaulthier (c. 1708-1758), botanist and physician of Quebec. procumbens: prostrate.
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plant habit, flowering
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flowers and leaves
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flowers and leaves
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leaves and fruit, fall
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