WINTERGREEN 



WINTERGREEN 



Gaultheria procumbens. 



Gaultheria, named in honor of Gaulthier, a physician and 

 botanist of Canada. 



A small evergreen shrub, with stems creeping on or below the 

 surface, and short, erect flowering branches three to five inches 

 high bearing at their summits a crowded group of aromatic 

 leaves. Found in cool, damp woods from 

 Newfoundland to Manitoba and south- 

 ward to Michigan and Georgia. 



Leaves. Alternate, evergreen, pin- 

 nately veined, two to two and a half 

 inches long, oval, oblong or ovate, nar- 

 rowed at the base, serrate with low 

 bristle-tipped teeth, acute at apex ; shin- 

 ing; when full grown dark shining green. 

 The young leaves are a shining yellow 

 green, often with a reddish tinge and de- 

 liciously aromatic. 



Flowers. Perfect, white or pinkish, 

 small, bell-like flowers, axillary near the 

 summit of the tiny erect branches. Ped- 

 icels with two bractlets. Calyx five- 

 parted, persistent ; corolla urn -shaped, 



five-toothed ; stamens ten, included, inserted at the base of the 

 corolla ; filament dilated above the base ; anther-cells each two- 

 awned at the summit, opening by a terminal pore. Ovary five- 

 celled, five-lobed. 



Fruit. Capsule is enclosed by the calyx which thickens and 

 turns fleshy so as to appear as a globular red berry ; many seeded. 



The leaves of the Wintergreen as they put forth 

 from the top of the upright stem are as near ambrosia 

 as anything our northern climate can produce. The 

 spicy aromatic flavor appears in leaf and stem and 

 fruit, but is most delicate and delicious in the young 



395 



Wintergreen, Gaultheria pro- 

 cumbens. After Britton & 

 Brown. 



