Gaultheria humifusa (Graham) Rydb.

Alpine spicywintergreen (en)

Species

Angiosperms > Ericales > Ericaceae > Gaultheria

Characteristics

Subshrubs, creeping, mat-forming, stoloniferous; roots adventitious or fibrous. Stems spreading and repent, 10-30 cm, (slender), usually hirtellous, sometimes glabrous. Leaf blades orbiculate, ovate, or broadly elliptic, 1-2.5 cm, base obtuse to rounded, margins serrulate (teeth bristle-tipped), apex obtuse or acute, surfaces glabrous. Inflorescences axillary, solitary flowers; bracts green with reddish margins, broadly ovate, 2.5-3 mm, exceeding sepals, glabrous. Pedicels green, 0.5-1.5 mm, glabrous; bracteoles 1-3, green or pink-tinged, deltate, 0.5-1 mm, glabrous. Flowers: sepals 5, connate ca. 1/2 their lengths, red to deep pink, narrowly ovate, 2-2.5 mm, glabrous; petals 5, connate basally, white to pale pink, 2.5-4 mm, glabrous, corolla campanulate, lobes (spreading), 1.5-3 mm; filaments broadest proximally, glabrous; anthers without awns, dehiscent by terminal pores. Fruits red, 5-7 mm wide.
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A small shrub. It grows 20 cm high. It is creeping and forms mats. The leaves are oval to round and 1-2.5 cm across. The flowering shoots are in the axils of leaves and the flowers occur singly. The fruit are 6 mm across. They are red.
Life form perennial
Growth form shrub
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention evergreen
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination entomogamy
Spread -
Mature width (meter) 0.3
Mature height (meter) 0.1
Root system adventitious-root creeping-root fibrous-root
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Fruit color -
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway c3

Environment

Coniferous woodlands and in moist soils along stream banks, subalpine to alpine wet meadows, rocky mountain slopes; at elevations from 900-3,700 metres. Moist alpine and sub-alpine slopes.
More
It is a temperate plant. It is very hardy to cold. It grows in the rocky mountains between 900-3,700 m above sea level. It suits hardiness zone 7.
Light 4-8
Soil humidity 5-7
Soil texture 3-6
Soil acidity 1-6
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 6-8

Usage

The fruit are eaten raw. They can also be cooked, preserved or used in jams and pies. The young leaves are cooked and eaten. The fresh and dried leaves are used for tea.
Uses dye tea
Edible fruits leaves
Therapeutic use -
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Can be grown by cuttings or seedlings. Seeds needs stratification.
Mode cuttings seedlings
Germination duration (days) 30 - 60
Germination temperacture (C°) 18 - 21
Germination luminosity light
Germination treatment stratification
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Gaultheria humifusa unspecified picture

Distribution

Gaultheria humifusa world distribution map, present in Canada and United States of America

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:107649-2
WFO ID wfo-0000695201
COL ID 6JZJH
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Gaultheria humifusa Gaultheria myrsinites Vaccinium humifusum Brossaea myrsinites