Gaultheria hispidula, commonly known as the creeping snowberry or moxie-plum, and known to Mi'kmaq tribes of Newfoundland as manna teaberry, is a perennial[2] spreading ground-level vine of the heath family Ericaceae. It is native to North America and produces small white edible berries. It fruits from August to September. Its leaves and berries taste and smell like wintergreen.[3] The species epithet hispidula refers to the bristles on the stems and leaves.[4]
Gaultheria hispidula is an evergreen prostrate shrub that forms a mat of stems and leaves that can reach 1m (3+1⁄2ft) in diameter and only 10 centimetres (3.9in) high.[5] The small leaves, which are under 1cm (0.39in) long, are arranged alternately along the stems.[6] The stem and undersides of the leaves are covered with stiff hairs.[7] The pale green-white flowers typically bloom between May and June, with fruits ripening between August and September.[7]
The flowers develop on short, nodding stalks in the axils of the leaves. Each bell-shaped flower is composed of four sepals and four petals that are fused at the base. The petals end in slightly flared lobes. Like other species of Gaultheria, the flowers are bisexual, containing eight short stamens that do not extend past the corolla.[7]
The fruits are capsules, surrounded by a persistent, fleshy white calyx giving it them the appearance of a small white berry. The surface of the fruits are also covered by short dark-red bristles.[7] The fruit is edible and has an acidic, or wintergreen-like, taste.[5]
Distribution and habitat
Gaultheria hispidula grows in acidic and neutral soils in open woodland and forest verges,[5] particularly on wet ground such as in or on the edge of bogs, often near tree stumps. Its original range spread from far northern Canada to as far south as North Carolina, but it has been extirpated from the southerly portions of its original range.
Like most plants in North America, deforestation and competition with invasive ornamentals (especially shade-loving groundcovers, such as English ivy or winter creeper commonly sold at garden centers) affect the creeping snowberry significantly. As a result, it has been extirpated from some of its original range and classified as rare in several states. Despite this, its international status has been evaluated as secure. This is because it is still quite common in its more northerly range of greater Canada.[6] However, deforestation and exotic invasion are continuing problems that affect all forest species in both Canada and the United States.[9][10]
The Algonquin people use an infusion of the leaves as a tonic for overeating.[13] They also use the fruit as food.[14] The Anticosti use it as a sedative,[15] and the Mi'kmaqdecoct the leaves or the whole plant for an unspecified purpose.[16] The Ojibwa people use the leaves to make a beverage.[17] Etymologist Frederic Cassidy hypothesized that such medicinal uses of the "moxie-plum", or another similarly-named plant, inspired the name of the 1870s patent medicine and later soft drink Moxie.[18]
The leaves can be cooked as a vegetable. The fruits can be eaten raw, baked, or used to make jam.[19]
12Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program (PNHP) (2007). "Creeping Snowberry (Gaultheria hispidula)"(PDF). Pennsylvania Plant Species of Concern. Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Retrieved 22 May 2011.
1234Dodds, Jill S. 2022. Gaultheria hispidula Rare Plant Profile. New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, State Parks, Forests & Historic Sites, State Forest Fire Service & Forestry, Office of Natural Lands Management, New Jersey Natural Heritage Program, Trenton, NJ. 18 pp.
↑Black, Meredith Jean 1980 Algonquin Ethnobotany: An Interpretation of Aboriginal Adaptation in South Western Quebec. Ottawa. National Museums of Canada. Mercury Series Number 65 (p. 216)
↑Rousseau, Jacques 1946 Notes Sur L'ethnobotanique D'anticosti. Archives de Folklore 1:60-71 (p. 68)
↑Speck, Frank G. 1917 Medicine Practices of the Northeastern Algonquians. Proceedings of the 19th International Congress of Americanists Pp. 303-321 (p. 317)
↑Densmore, Frances 1928 Uses of Plants by the Chippewa Indians. SI-BAE Annual Report #44:273-379 (p. 317)
↑Cassidy, Frederic G. (1995). "The Etymology of Moxie". Dictionaries: Journal of the Dictionary Society of North America. 16: 208–211. doi:10.1353/dic.1995.0007.
↑Elias, Thomas S.; Dykeman, Peter A. (2009) [1982]. Edible Wild Plants: A North American Field Guide to Over 200 Natural Foods. New York: Sterling. p.153. ISBN978-1-4027-6715-9. OCLC244766414.
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