| Labrador Tea | |
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Labrador Tea An erect, free-branching, evergreen shrub. Height: Usually less than 1 m. Twigs: Densely covered with brown hairs. Branches reddish brown to gray, often flaky on older parts. Winter buds are rounded with many overlapping scales. Leaves: Alternate, thick and leathery, narrow, oblong with a rounded apex, 1.5-5 cm long and 4-12 mm wide. Upper surface is dull, dark green, slightly hairy and scaly, deeply veined. Undersurface has distinctive dense rusty hairs, with a felt-like appearance. Leaves usually crowded at top of shrub. Flowers: Creamy white, five-petals in terminal roundish clusters, 2-5 cm across. Flower stalks are straight or slightly curved, 5-8 stamens. Blooms from mid-June to early August. Fruit: Slender, dry capsules about 6 mm long, split from base upwards into five valves. Persist until following year or longer. Habitat: Throughout Newfoundland and Labrador* in bogs and fens, wet an dry heaths, damp and dry woods, and exposed areas. Leaves may be used for making tea by steeping in boiling water for 5-10 minutes. If the water is boiled after the leaves are put in, a harmful alkaloid is released. * Northern Labrador Tea (Ledum plaustre L.) is similar in habitat to Ledum groenlandicum Oeder but is smaller (10-20 cm high). It is found on dry hills and rocky barrens of Labrador, but not recorded in insular Newfoundland. Source:
Native Trees and Shrubs Used
with permission from
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