18 AMERICAN MEDICINAL LEAVES AND HERBS. 
GRAVEL PLANT. 
Epigaea repens L. 
Other common names.—Trailing arbutus, Mayflower, shad-flower, ground laurel, 
mountain pink, winter pink. 
Habitat and range.—This shrubby little plant spreads out on the ground in sandy 
soil, being found especially 
under evergreen trees from 
Florida to Michigan and 
northward. 
Description.—The gravel 
plant is one of our early 
spring flowers, and under 
its more popular name 
“trailing arbutus” it is 
greatly prized on account 
of its delicate shell-pink, 
waxy blossoms with their 
faint yet-spicy fragrance. 
Gravel plant is the name 
that is generally applied 
to it in the drug trade. It 
spreads on the ground with 
stems 6 inches or more in 
length and has rust-colored 
hairy twigs bearing ever- 
ereen leaves. The leaves 
are erveen above and below, 
thick and leathery, oval or 
roundish, sometimes with 
the top pointed, blunt, or 
having a short stiff point 
and a rounded or heart- 
shaped base. The mar- 
gins are unbroken and the 
upper surface is smooth, while the lower surface is somewhat hairy. The leaves 
measure from 1 to 3 inches in length and are about half as wide, the hairy stalks sup- 
porting them ranging from one-fourth of an inch to 2 inches in length. Early in the 
year, from about March to May, the flower clusters appear. These are borne in the 
axils of the leaves and at the ends of the branches and consist of several waxy, 
pinkish-white, fragrant flowers with saucer-shaped, 5-lobed corolla, the throat of the 
corolla tube being very densely hairy within. (Fig.10.) The seed capsule is some- 
what roundish, flattened, five celled, and contains numerous seeds. The gravel plant 
belongs to the heath family (Ericacezx) and is a perennial. 
Collection, prices, and uses.—The leaves are collected at flowering time and are 
worth about 3 or 4 centsa pound. They have a bitter, astringent taste and are said 
to possess astringent and diuretic properties. 
219 
Fic. 10.—Gravel plant (#pigaea repens), leaves and flowers. 
a a 
