WINTERGREEN 
(Ericaceae) 
Gaultheria procumbens L. 
A low, aromatic, semi-woody plant with creeping or subterranean, perennial 
stems, branches erect or nearly so, 2-6 inches high, bearing several oval, 
oblong or obovate, obtuse or acute, thick, evergreen leaves, dark green and 
shining above, pale beneath, 1-2 inches long, margins slightly revolute and 
serrate with low bristle-tipped teeth; flowers white, usually solitary in the 
axils of the leaves, on recurved peduncles; corolla ovoid-urceolate, with 
5 recurved teeth. Stamens Io, included and inserted at base of the corolla, 
the anther sacs opening by a terminal pore; fruit depressed-globose, usually 
slightly 5-lobed, bright red when mature, one-third to one-half inch in 
diameter, mealy and very spicy in flavor. 
In woods and open places, especially under or near evergreen trees, most 
abundant in sandy regions, Newfoundland to Manitoba, New Jersey, Georgia, 
West Virginia, Indiana and Michigan. Flowering from June to early Sep- 
tember, the fruit ripe in late autumn and persisting on the branches well 
into the next season. 
The generic name was given to this plant by Peter Kalm in honor of 
Doctor Gaultier who lived at Quebec in the middle of the eighteenth century. 
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