Al Schneider's Rocky Mountains Plant Descriptions

Alpine Wintergreen
Gaultheria humifusa
Heather family (Ericaceae)

This is a cute spreading forest plant with delicate bell-shaped flowers that give way to shiny and eye-catching red . Creeping Wintergreen is reputed to be tasty, raw or cooked. It is aromatic and delicious according to some, with a flavor of wintergreen. It has often been used in preserves. The is about 1/4" in diameter. The young tender leaves also have a delicate flavor of wintergreen and a tea is made from the fresh or dried leaves. The plant was named by Linnaeus in 1753 for Canadian naturalist Jean-Francois Gaultier. "Humifusa" means "sprawling on the ground."


©2010 Barry Breckling

Description

spreading shrubs, hardly woody, with creeping, rooting stems to 8" long, to slightly hairy. Leaves thin, 1/4 to over 1/2" long, oval to to widely to , rounded at tip and basally, finely , veins prominent. Flowers solitary, , . about 1/6" long, bell-shaped, pink or white. a nearly spherical red .

Field Marks

Sprawling, delicate plant with oval leaves, small white flowers, and red .

© Al Schneider

Axillary bud growing from the armpit of the plant.

oblanceolate -- top wider than bottom

serrate -- toothed with asymmetrical teeth pointing forward; like the cutting edge of a saw.

ovate -- Oval, egg-shaped, with a tapering point.

lateral -- attached to the side of an organ, for instance leaves or branches on a stem.

corolla -- The name for all the petals of a flower taken together.

orbicular -- Circular or nearly circular in outline.

capsule -- a type of simple, dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. In most cases the capsule splits apart to release seeds.

calyx -- the sepals of a flower, typically forming a whorl that encloses the petals and forms a protective layer around a flower in bud.

fruit -- any seed-bearing structure in flowering plants. It is formed from the ovary after flowering.

prostrate -- Laying flat on the ground.

glabrous -- smooth, glossy, having no bristles or hair-like structures. Bald.