wintergreen or checkerberry, low evergreen plant (Gaultheria procumbens) of the family Ericaceae (heath heath, in botany, common name for some members of the Ericaceae, a family of chiefly evergreen shrubs with berry or capsule fruits. Plants of the heath family form the characteristic vegetation of many regions with acid soils, particularly the moors, swamps, and
..... Click the link for more information. family), native to sandy and acid woods (usually of evergreens) of E North America and frequently cultivated. It has a creeping stem, erect branches, glossy, oval leaves, and small, waxy, white flowers followed by crimson fruits. The aromatic leaves and fruits are edible; the leaves are a source of wintergreen oil (now mostly obtained from the sweet, or black, birch, Betula lenta, or synthetically). The oil is used in medicine and as a flavoring. A tea has often been made from the leaves, whence two of the many names of the plant, mountain tea and teaberry. There are other species of Gaultheria found in W America and elsewhere; one of these, G. shallon, is called salal or shallon. Some pipsissewa pipsissewa (pĭpsĭs`əwä), any plant of the genus Chimaphila,
..... Click the link for more information. species, of the family Pyrolaceae, are sometimes called wintergreen. True wintergreen is classified in the division Magnoliophyta Magnoliophyta (măg'nōlēŏf`ətə)
..... Click the link for more information. , class Magnoliopsida, order Ericales, family Ericaceae.
Any of several evergreen plants in the heath order (Ericales). They grow as woodland wildflowers and are cultivated as garden ground cover. They are also grown as a source of oil of wintergreen, a volatile, pungent oil used to flavour candies and chewing gum and to soothe muscular aches. Wintergreen is an alternative common name for several woodland herbs: those of the genus Pyrola (shinleaf), comprising about 12 species of creeping perennials, and Gaultheria procumbens (also called teaberry and checkerberry; see also snowberry), with white flowers and spicy red berries.
wintergreen
wintergreen
..... Click the link for more information. family), native to sandy and acid woods (usually of evergreens) of E North America and frequently cultivated. It has a creeping stem, erect branches, glossy, oval leaves, and small, waxy, white flowers followed by crimson fruits. The aromatic leaves and fruits are edible; the leaves are a source of wintergreen oil (now mostly obtained from the sweet, or black, birch, Betula lenta, or synthetically). The oil is used in medicine and as a flavoring. A tea has often been made from the leaves, whence two of the many names of the plant, mountain tea and teaberry. There are other species of Gaultheria found in W America and elsewhere; one of these, G. shallon, is called salal or shallon. Some pipsissewa pipsissewa (pĭpsĭs`əwä), any plant of the genus Chimaphila,
..... Click the link for more information. species, of the family Pyrolaceae, are sometimes called wintergreen. True wintergreen is classified in the division Magnoliophyta Magnoliophyta (măg'nōlēŏf`ətə)
..... Click the link for more information. , class Magnoliopsida, order Ericales, family Ericaceae.
wintergreen
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Wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens)
(credit: Roger and Joy Spurr—Bruce Coleman Inc./EB Inc.)
wintergreen
oil of wintergreen an aromatic compound, formerly made from this and various other plants but now synthesized: used medicinally and for flavouring
wintergreen
1. any of several evergreen ericaceous shrubs of the genus Gaultheria, esp G. procumbens, of E North America, which has white bell-shaped flowers and edible red berries
2. any of various plants of the genus Pyrola, such as P. minor (common wintergreen), of temperate and arctic regions, having rounded leaves and small pink globose flowers: family Pyrolaceae
3. any of several plants of the genera Orthilia and Moneses: family Pyrolaceae
4. chickweed wintergreen a primulaceous plant, Trientalis europaea, of N Europe and N Asia, having white flowers and leaves arranged in a whorl
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