There are three species of Labrador-tea in western North America, but 

 smooth Labrador-tea, a leafy, evergreen shrub, is the only species of great im- 

 portance. It is usually found in or just below the subalpine zones in acid 

 bogs or swamps in the mountains and from British Columbia through the 

 Cascades to the southern Sierras, and through the Rockies to western Wyo- 

 ming and northern Utah. However, on the moist coastal regions of Washing- 

 ton, Oregon, and northern California it grows at low elevations near the ocean. 



In California and in many places elsewhere, smooth Labrador-tea colonizes 

 the edges of bogs, lakes, or streams in company with lodgepole pine or occurs 

 as a shrubby fringe between the lodgepole pine belt and the sea. In the Cas- 

 cades and the Rockies it is not so closely associated with lodgepole pine, but is 

 commonly found in wet meadows and is often associated with willows along 

 meandering streams. In the highland country, where moisture is abundant, 

 it sometimes grows on slopes and in open timber stands. Smooth Labrador- 

 tea is seldom eaten by domestic livestock, and because it is so little used, con- 

 siderable difference of opinion regarding its poisonous properties has developed. 

 It is not considered dangerous in the Rockies, and that viewpoint appears to be 

 substantiated by the lack of authentic records of sheep losses from its use in 

 that area. Smooth Labrador-tea is generally considered poisonous in the 

 Pacific Coast States. 12 Hence, most sheepmen instruct their herders to avoid 

 localities where this species is present. Marsh, 3 however, on the basis of actual 

 feeding experiments, reports that it is only slightly toxic and probably never 

 causes trouble under range conditions. It is possible that the prevalent Pacific 

 coast opinion respecting the toxicity of this shrub may be due to the habit of 

 certain sheepmen of referring to Labrador-tea and several closely related and 

 poisonous shrubs as "blacklaurels". In California, for example, it is frequently 

 confused with the very poisonous blacklaurel (Leucothoe damsiae), with 

 which it is often associated. Although somewhat similar, blacklaurel is easily 

 distinguished by its straight, uniformly leafy stems, larger leaves without 

 resin dots beneath, and by the elongated, open flower or seed clusters, as well 

 as by the more technical flower and fruit characters. 



Smooth Labrador-tea is from 2 to 5 or occasionally 6 feet in height and rather 

 stout. The flowers are borne usually during July. 



LABRADOR-TEAS (Le'dum spp.) 



The Labrador-teas compose a small genus of the heath family (Ericaceae) 

 and are represented in North America by about six species. They character- 

 istically inhabit acid soils of bogs and marshy places, mostly in the subalpine 

 and alpine zones. The common name, Labrador-tea, now applied to the genus, 

 was originally used for the so-called true Labrador-tea (L. groenlandicum) 

 because of its use as a substitute for tea in the far North. 



The genus is noteworthy in that the extracts of the foliage of the several 

 species have varied uses. Crystal-tea (L. palustre) yields the glucoside ericolin, 

 said to be a narcotic and sedative, and smooth Labrador-tea is locally used as an 

 insecticide for cattle vermin and eradicating fleas. 



As a group the Labrador-teas are of very low palatability or poisonous, or 

 both, to domestic livestock, although certain species are reported to be im- 

 portant summer reindeer feed in Alaska. 4 Even if palatable, their use would 

 be limited, as they usually inhabit bogs and swamps not readily accessible to 

 domestic livestock. 



The Labrador-teas are erect, branching, evergreen shrubs with alternate 

 leaves which are fragrant, especially when crushed. The numerous white 

 flowers are borne in a terminal umbel-like cluster. The petals are 5 and dis- 

 tinct; stamens 4 to 10, longer than the petals; anthers awnless. The fruit is 

 a dry, five-celled capsule that opens from the base. They are further dis- 

 tinguished from the other genera in the heath family by their distinct petals. 



1 Jepson, W. L. A MANUAL OF THE FLOWERING PLANTS OF CALIFORNIA. 1,238 pp., illus. 

 Berkeley, Calif. [1925.] 



2 Lawrence, W. B. THE PRINCIPAL STOCK-POISONING PLANTS OF OREGON. Oreg. Agr. 

 Expt. Sta. Bull. 187, 42 pp., illus. 1922. 



"Marsh, C. D. STOCK-POISONING PLANTS OF THE RANGE. U. S. Dept. Agr. Bull. 1245, 

 rev., 75 pp., illus. 1929. Supersedes Bull. 575. 



4 Hadwen, S., and Palmer, L. J. REINDEER IN ALASKA. U. S. Dept. Agr. Bull. 1089, 

 74 pp., illus. 1922. 



