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Ledum glandulosum

Common name:	Labrador Tea	Family:	Ericaceae
Author:	Nutt.	Botanical references:	11, 60, 200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	Plants contain a narcotic toxin called Ledel. This toxin only causes problems if the leaves are cooked for a long period in a closed container[172].
Range:	Western N. America.
Habitat:	Wet montane meadows and open woods[60].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	2	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	1

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	L. glandsulosum[E] L. glandulosum var. californicum[B,P] L. groenlandicum ssp. glandulosum[B]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Glandular Labrador-tea [B], Labrador Tea [S], Western Labrador Tea [E], Western Labradortea [P],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	glandulosum = glandular
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Ericales. Heath family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Us Us(Flathead)

Physical Characteristics

An evergreen shrub growing to 1.5m. . It is in leaf all year, in flower in May. The scented flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs). We rate it 2/5 for edibility and 1/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. The plant prefers acid soils and can grow in very acid soil. It can grow in full shade (deep woodland) semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Woodland, Dappled Shade, Shady Edge, Deep Shade.

Edible Uses

Condiment Leaves Tea.

An aromatic tea is made from the fresh or dried leaves[172, 183, 257]. The dried leaves are often mixed with non-aromatic leaves such as comfrey[183]. Some caution is advised, see the notes above on toxicity. It would be better to brew the tea in cold water by leaving it in a sunny place, or to make sure that it is brewed for a short time only in an open container.
The leaves are used as a flavouring, they are a bayleaf substitute[172].
The fresh leaves can be chewed[183].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Astringent Diaphoretic Diuretic Laxative Stomachic.

The leaves and young flowering shoots re astringent, diaphoretic, diuretic, laxative and stomachic[172].

Other Uses

Repellent.

The leaves are used to repel moths, mice, rats etc[172].

Cultivation details

Requires a lime-free loam or peaty soil[1, 11]. Prefers a moist humus-rich acid soil in shade or semi-shade[200]. Plants flower more freely when grown in a sunny position. Plants grow better if they have certain fungal associations in the soil. The best way of providing this is to incorporate some soil from around well-growing established plants into the soil for the new plant[200].
Hardy to at least -15° c[200].
The leaves are covered in tiny spots or glands from which a strong, resinous scent is given off[245]. The flowers also have an aromatic perfume[245].
Plants benefit from removing the dead flowers before they set seed[188]. This prevents them putting too much energy into seed production at the expense of more flowers and leaves.

Propagation

Seed - surface sow in a shady part of the greenhouse in February or March[78, 113]. Another report says that the seed is best sown in the autumn as soon as it is ripe[188]. Germination is variable and can be quite slow. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots as soon as they are large enough to handle and grow the pots on in a shady frame for 18 months before planting them out into their permanent positions[78].
Cuttings of half-ripe wood, 5 - 8cm with a heel, July/August in a frame. Plant out in spring. Fair percentage[78].
Cuttings of mature wood, November/December in a frame[113].
Layering in the autumn. Takes 12 months[78].
Division.

Scent

Flowers: Fresh: The flowers have an aromatic perfume.
Leaves: Crushed: No details on scent.

Suppliers

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

Web References

[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] SW USA Dist. Maps from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
[S] Illustration from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
[S] Image from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
[S] Illustration from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[C] Taxon data. from the CalFlora database.
Images from the CalPhoto database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for Ledum glandsulosum (a possible synonym).

[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany 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

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[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.

[60] Hitchcock. C. L. Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest. University of Washington Press 1955
A standard flora for Western N. America with lots of information on habitat etc. Five large volumes, it is not for the casual reader.

[78] Sheat. W. G. Propagation of Trees, Shrubs and Conifers. MacMillan and Co 1948
A bit dated but a good book on propagation techniques with specific details for a wide range of plants.

[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.

[172] Schofield. J. J. Discovering Wild Plants - Alaska, W. Canada and the Northwest.
A nice guide to some useful plants in that area.

[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.

[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.

[257] Moerman. D. Native American Ethnobotany Timber Press. Oregon. 1998 ISBN 0-88192-453-9
Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
Blagdon Cross, Ashwater, Beaworthy, Devon, EX21 5DF, UK.
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