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Epigaea repens

Common name:	Mayflower	Family:	Ericaceae
Author:	L.	Botanical references:	11, 43, 200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Eastern N. America - Newfoundland to Florida and west to Tennessee, Ohio and Michigan.
Habitat:	Damp mossy banks in sandy and peaty woods and clearings[43, 268], usually under pine trees[4].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	1	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	2

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	E. repens var. glabrifolia[B,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Arbutus, Trailing [S], Epigee Rampante [E], Gravel Plant [H], Ground Laurel [H], May Flower [H], Mountain Pink [H], Trailing Arbutus [E,H,S,P], Trailing-arbutus [B], Winter Pink [H],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	repens = creeping
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Ericales. Heath family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	France Us Us(Cherokee)

Physical Characteristics

An evergreen shrub growing to 0.1m by 0.3m . It is hardy to zone 2 and is frost tender. It is in leaf all year, in flower from April to May. The scented flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs). We rate it 1/5 for edibility and 2/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils. The plant prefers acid and neutral soils and can grow in very acid soil. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland). It requires moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Woodland, Dappled Shade, Shady Edge, Ground Cover.

Edible Uses

Flowers.

Flowers - raw. Fragrant, with a spicy slightly acid flavour[105], they are eaten as a wayside nibble or are added to salads[183]. Thirst quenching[177].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Astringent Diuretic Tonic.

Mayflower is rarely used medicinally, even in folk medicine, though it is a strong urinary antiseptic and is one of the most effective remedies for cystitis, urethritis, prostatitis, bladder stones and particularly acute catarrhal cystitis[268].
The leaves are astringent, diuretic and tonic[46, 61]. An infusion is made from the dried leaves, or a tincture from the fresh leaves[4]. A tea made from the leaves is used in the treatment of kidney disorders, stomach aches, bladder disorders etc[222]. It is of special value when the urine contains blood or pus[4]. Use with caution, the plant contains arbutin and, although this is an effective urinary disinfectant, it hydrolyzes to hydroquinone which is toxic[222].
The leaves can be used fresh or can be harvested in the summer and dried for later use[238, 268].

Other Uses

Ground cover.

Plants can be grown for ground cover, they should be spaced about 25cm apart each way and form a carpet of growth[208]. This species is probably not very worthwhile for ground cover in Britain because of its difficulty to cultivate[208].

Cultivation details

Requires an open lime-free humus-rich soil and shade from direct sunlight[11, 182, 200]. Grows well in the shade of other calcifuge plants such as rhododendrons and also under pine trees[245].
A very cold-hardy plant but it is often excited into premature growth by mild winter weather and is then subject to damage by frost[11]. The flower buds require a period of chilling to about 2° c before they will open[200]. The flowers are deliciously and strongly scented[200] with a rich spicy perfume[245].
There are some named varieties, selected for their ornamental value[200].
A difficult plant to grow in cultivation[200] and very hard to transplant successfully[182]. Another report says that although the genus is generally difficult to cultivate, this species is relatively easy to grow[188].

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in a shady position in a cold frame[200]. Another report says that the seed requires no pre-treatment and can be sown in late winter in a cold frame[113]. Surface sow and place the pot in light shade, do not allow it to dry out[113]. The seed usually germinates in 3 - 5 weeks[113]. As soon as they are large enough to handle, pot up the seedlings into individual pots. Be very careful since they strongly resent root disturbance. Grow them on in light shade in the greenhouse and plant them out in their permanent positions in the late spring of their second years growth.
Cuttings of half-ripe wood, July/August in a frame[200].Take the cutting with a part of the previous year's growth[113]. (This report is unclear as to whether it means a heel of older wood or just a small section of older wood[K])
Plants self-layer and can be divided in the spring but this must be done with great care since they deeply resent root disturbance[200].

Scent

Flowers: Fresh: The flowers are deliciously and strongly scented with a rich spicy perfume.

Cultivars

'': No entries have been made for this species as yet.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

PFAF Web Pages

This plant is mentioned in the following web pages

Web References

Details of Medicinal Uses, Habitats, etc. in M. Grieve A Modern Herbal (1931) [4]
[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[S] Illustration from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for the family Ericaceae.

[CHINA] Draft Data for parts of family Very detailed botanical/identification info. from the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.

[11] Bean. W. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. Murray 1981
A classic with a wealth of information on the plants, but poor on pictures.

[43] Fernald. M. L. Gray's Manual of Botany. American Book Co. 1950
A bit dated but good and concise flora of the eastern part of N. America.

[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.

[61] Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974 ISBN 0094579202
Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.

[105] Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976
The most comprehensive guide to edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.

[113] Dirr. M. A. and Heuser. M. W. The Reference Manual of Woody Plant Propagation. Athens Ga. Varsity Press 1987 ISBN 0942375009
A very detailed book on propagating trees. Not for the casual reader.

[177] Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984 ISBN 3874292169
An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of latin names with a brief list of edible parts.

[182] Thomas. G. S. Ornamental Shrubs, Climbers and Bamboos. Murray 1992 ISBN 0-7195-5043-2
Contains a wide range of plants with a brief description, mainly of their ornamental value but also usually of cultivation details and varieties.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[188] Brickell. C. The RHS Gardener's Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd. 1990 ISBN 0-86318-386-7
Excellent range of photographs, some cultivation details but very little information on plant uses.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[208] Thomas. G. S. Plants for Ground Cover J. M. Dent & Sons 1990 ISBN 0-460-12609-1
An excellent detailled book on the subject, very comprehensive.

[222] Foster. S. & Duke. J. A. A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants. Eastern and Central N. America. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1990 ISBN 0395467225
A concise book dealing with almost 500 species. A line drawing of each plant is included plus colour photographs of about 100 species. Very good as a field guide, it only gives brief details about the plants medicinal properties.

[238] Bown. D. Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. Dorling Kindersley, London. 1995 ISBN 0-7513-020-31
A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.

[245] Genders. R. Scented Flora of the World. Robert Hale. London. 1994 ISBN 0-7090-5440-8
An excellent, comprehensive book on scented plants giving a few other plant uses and brief cultivation details. There are no illustrations.

[268] Stuart. M. (Editor) The Encyclopedia of Herbs and Herbalism Orbis Publishing. London. 1979 ISBN 0-85613-067-2
Excellent herbal with good concise information on over 400 herbs.

Readers Comments

Epigaea repens

Laura Lange (dharmakayah@netscape.net) Sun Jan 19 05:32:44 2003

Link: New England Wild Flower Society SEEDS for Epigaea repens, trailing arbutus

Epigaea repens

Laura Lange (dharmakayah@netscape.net) Sun Jan 19 05:32:44 2003

Link: New England Wild Flower Society SEEDS for Epigaea repens, trailing arbutus (woo hoo!)

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