Check out our selection of wintergreen plants selected for fruit productivity and ornamental qualities! The berries are high in vitamin C and contain wintergreen oil. Bears fruit fall through spring. Fun Facts. A Wintergreen plant in early spring. The fruit of the wintergreen, a startlingly brilliant red berry, appears in late autumn through the winter, and is much more visible than the wintergreen flower. Hardy in zones 4-8. The sap or leaves of some spruces can be used for chewing gum or tea. Proper name: Gaultheria procumbens. These shiny leaves contrast winningly with the plant’s flowers. Fruits can be eaten raw or cooked in desserts or salads. Its leaves are oval, leathery, and when they are wounded a strong medicinal fragrance spreads, similar to that of meadowsweet. In addition to having leaves, hawthorns have some pretty impressive—you guessed it—thorns, as well as edible berries that are high in pectin, making them a good option for thickening up jams. Edibility: Leaves and fruits are used to make wintergreen oil which is used in gum, canyd and toothpaste. Scientific Name(s) Gaultheria procumbens If you’ve ever seen wintergreen growing outdoors, you know that it is a gorgeous plant all year long. Wintergreen’s berries provide food for birds, squirrels, deer and humans; you can eat the fruit raw or use it in cooking. If you've ever chewed wintergreen gum, you know the fresh flavor of this evergreen member of the heath family. Plants at Edible Landscaping Berries - Wintergreen Cherry Berry Wintergreen - Gaultheria procumbens; Cherry Berries offers the most exceptionally large red berries you will find on a wintergreen. Unlike roots and greens, wild berries and fruits often don’t require preparation and cooking. Wintergreen plants are evergreen. Methyl salicylate, a mild form of aspirin, can be created by brewing and fermenting the leaves for a few days. Locations: Woodland, Sunny Edge, Dappled Shade. Striped wintergreen is an evergreen perennial herb. It is hardy to zone (UK) 5. They also contain calcium, iron, phosphorus, manganese, sodium, and potassium. Foliage turns bronze in the winter. Wintergreen is an evergreen plant, and even beneath deep snow it retains its shiny green leaves and scarlet berries. They are from two totally separate families of plants. Interestingly, striped wintergreen bears no relation whatsoever to common wintergreen – the creeping evergreen groundcover common in cool mountain coves, that bears edible red berries. That makes them very accessible for beginners and provide a sweet bit of instant gratification. The leaves and fruits are edible. Habitat and Range . Ground Cover, Evergreen, Edible Fruits, Fragrant Leaves, Medicinal. Fruit is red, round, 1/4 to 1/2 inch through, hanging beneath leaves, mild wintergreen taste, ripen in late summer, can last through winter. Edible fruit Fragrance Wildlife Food Source Particularly Resistant To (Insects/Diseases/Other Problems): Heat, drought, and soil compaction tolerant. Leaves year round, eastern North American down to northern Georgia. Several genera contain species known as wintergreen: Chimaphila, Gaultheria, Polygala, Pyrola, and Trientalis. The oil is used in medicine and as a flavoring. One of our native North American wildflowers, and a charming plant for areas with moist, acidic soil. Interestingly, striped wintergreen bears no relation whatsoever to common wintergreen – the creeping evergreen groundcover common in cool mountain coves, that bears edible red berries. Wintergreen is an unusual and beautiful evergreen groundcover plant that makes large red berries with a minty flavor in the winter. Other uses of the herb: Duke 1985 A tea made from the leaves was used as a substitute for Camellia sinensis tea during the Revolutionary War.Chevallier 1996. Many of the beans you regularly eat by themselves or in soups, salads and chili have leaves that are completely edible. ENVIRONMENT: Wintergreen is a perennial evergreen shrub that is native to eastern North America, and usually is found in woodland and exposed mountainous areas. Actually, you should just chew them for flavour, and then spit out the remnants. We ship nationwide and offer pickup options for local customers. The species is hermaphrodite (has both male and female organs) and is pollinated by Bees, flies. Wintergreen's fruit may be eaten fresh, while the evergreen’s leaves make for a flavorful tea. Slow to spread: plant 10-25 per square yard. Wintergreen is a member of the Ericaceae (heath) family, a large family of flowering plants usually found in acid soil. Wintergreen, any of several evergreen plants in the family Ericaceae. Wintergreen is a creeper (procumbens means “lying flat”). Standing just 6 inches tall, it hugs the ground, choking out weeds while creating a dense mat of glossy foliage. Inconspicuous stems sprawl on or just below the soil surface. To six inches high. 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). Wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens) is a low-growing wildflower with shiny evergreen leaves found in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York.It bears small white flowers in July and August followed by bright red berries that often persist through winter. Its small, waxy, white or pale pink flowers bloom in late summer, developing a red fruit. Fig leaves are a good source of vitamin A, B1, and B2. A species of Gaultheria is the source of oil of wintergreen, which is used as a flavoring in candies and chewing gum. Fig leaves are well and truly edible. The leaves are tough but edible if chewed well. Edible wild berries and fruit are some of the most rewarding things to find when you’re out foraging wild edible plants. Plants that remain green through winter can be called evergreens. The fruit is about 3/8" in diameter. Don’t bother with the really old ones – way too fibrous and bland. It has a specific list of alternative edible leaves (see Resources). Native Americans brewed a tea from the leaves to alleviate rheumatic symptoms, headache, fever, sore throat, and various aches and pains. Plants for a Future is an online database with research and information on edible and useful plants suitable for growing outdoors in a temperate climate. A tea has often been made from the leaves, whence two of the many names of the plant, mountain tea and teaberry. The aromatic berries and foliage contain wintergreen oil. Wintergreen Seeds - Gaultheria procumbens (Edible Fruits) Price for Package of 5 seeds. It contains methyl salycliates, the active painkilllers of aspirin, useful for … It is in leaf all year, in flower from June to August. Striped wintergreen is an evergreen perennial herb. Wintergreen is a member of the Heath family that forms large mats of glossy green groundcover in the woods. This wild edible plant is also added to the other herbs and plants that we make herbal teas, or tisanes from. Canada and Northern US south to mountains of Georgia. Wintergreen oil is an essential oil that’s traditionally derived from the leaves of the wintergreen plant. The plant is self-fertile. American wintergreen or Gaultheria procumbens is a small sub-shrub, cousin to heather and blueberries that also belong to the Ericaceae family. In the spring, the native ground cover produces white, lily of the valley type flowers followed by red berries when fall rolls around. American wintergreen grows in Canada and in Northeast United States. Nonetheless, the plant most frequently called wintergreen in horticulture and in herbal medicine circles is Gaultheria procumbens, and it gets the spotlight this month. Holiday plants are shipped in a … Year-Round. Wintergreen Berries Harvesting. Edible Uses: Fruit - raw or cooked. Zone 4-8. They are from two totally separate families of plants. Woods, clearings, poor waste soil. Wintergreen's fruit can be eaten fresh, while the evergreen’s leaves make for a flavorful tea. Perfect for shady areas and acidic soils, they are native to eastern North America. As with many cultivated crops harvest carefully because as a commercial crop they are often doused wth this or that chemical to keep them living and looking well until they get to market. Is also used for scrofula and prolapsus of the womb. The seeds of some are edible (pignoli). Like a holly tree, the wintergreen’s glossy leaves do not wilt and die in autumn. When growing your own lima beans, snap beans or green beans, pick a few of the leaves during harvest time and add them to your vegetable dishes. Wintergreen has caught the eye of plant scientists and landscape designers. Gaultheria hispidula, or Cancer Wintergreen, supposed to remove the cancerous taint from the system. Edible parts of Spotted Wintergreen: The leaves are used as a snack, being nibbled for their refreshing qualities. It is a hardworking landscape problem solver in cool, shaded planting sites. Wintergreen leaves and berries are edible. The blossoms look like tiny, dangling bells. It has no deadly or toxic mimics. Pyrola minor is an evergreen Perennial growing to 0.1 m (0ft 4in) by 0.3 m (1ft). At intervals, erect, mostly naked stems rise 3 to 7 inches above the ground, and a few leathery, oval leaves up to 2 inches long with barely visible rounded teeth are clustered near the top. Fig leaves add a lovely coconut, walnut, vanilla flavour to food. TIME OF YEAR: Berries fall or spring, under the snow if you can find them. Suitable for: light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils. The leaves are edible as well but are on the astringent side. Small soft-pink bell flowers are followed by large scarlet berries, which are edible. Eat, drink and grow berries! Beans. A sweet flavour. Plants form a low, spreading mat of rounded, glossy green leaves. Wintergreen What is Wintergreen? In Mexico the herb is used as a catalyst in the preparation of "tesguino", an alcoholic beverage produced from sprouted maize. The Wintergreen also makes an excellent house plant in a cool, partially shaded window. Edible uses: The tiny leaves that hang on during winter can be eaten as bitter salad greens. Meanwhile, Leaf for Live is an online database of various vegetables and plants. Flavor of wintergreen (minty) Whole Plant : Leaves . Its evergreen, glossy green foliage turns merlot-colored in … Members of the genus Pyrola are commonly known as wintergreens and are native to the North Temperate Zone. Wintergreen has evergreen leaves paired with white flowers in summer and bright red berries in fall. In spring, the native evergreen ground cover produces white, lily of the valley type flowers, to be followed by red berries when fall rolls around. Wintergreen oil is an extremely potent liquid form of methyl salicylate (98% methyl salicylate w/w).Chyka 2007 It is produced by macerating wintergreen leaves in warm water, followed by steam distillation. Season. This creeping, rhizomatous shrublet grows to 6 inches tall with scalloped or bristly toothed, glossy, dark Wintergreen berries, from Gaultheria procumbens, are used medicinally. G. Shallon is the Sallol of North-west America, whose edible fruit deserves to be more widely known and cultivated. It has no deadly or toxic mimics. Juniper berries can flavor several different concoctions. Chemistry.