Creeping Snowberry

(Gaultheria hispidula)

Other Names:
N/A

Range:


Family:
Ericaceae - Heath or Heather Family

Growth Type:
A ground hugging perennial creeping shrub

Height:
Creeping ground hugging

Leaves:
Tiny, oval, alternate leaves, which smell of wintergreen

Stem/Trunk:
Stems are typically unbranched and have alternating leaves along their lengths

Root:
Spreading root system

Flower Season:
Summer

Flower Appearance:
The flowers are tiny, 4 lobed, drooping, and bell shaped.

Seed/Fruit:
White berries appear in leaf axils, and continue through the winter

Miscellaneous characteristics:
Closely related to, and often mistaken for gaultheria procumbens, wintergreen. The leaves of G. hispidula are smaller, and the berries are white rather than the pale red of those from G procumbens. The two plants are virtually interchangeable, although I like the taste of the wintergreen berry slightly more than that of the creeping snowberry

Habitat:
Mossy evergreen forests and bogs

Parts Used:
Fruit, Leaves, Stem



Culinary Uses:
The fruit can be eaten raw, or made into jams, or baked into pies and tarts. The leaves and stems can be eaten raw, although they are dry. They can also be brewed for a very good wintergreen flavored tea.

Energetics
Taste: Sweet
Thermal: Cooling
Humidity: Drying

Traditional Medicinal Uses:
The leaves contain high amounts of Methyl Salicylate, the forerunner of modern aspirin. Leaf tea has been used to soothe colds, headaches, stomachaches, fever, kidney ailments; Externally as a wash for rheumatism, sore muscles, lumbago. The chemical Methyl Salicylate, has anti-inflammatory and pain killing properties. There have been recent studies have shown that small amounts have delayed the onset of tumors.

Medicinal Actions:
Analgesic, Anti-Inflammatory, Antineoplastic, Antirheumatic, Febrifuge, Odontalgic, Stomachic