Wonderful Wintergreen: all about the Wintergreen plant
“Blueberry Cascade”: A proprietary production variety that bears fruit along the entire vine stem, not just at its ends.
‘Cherry Berries’: A variety selected for its very gigantic, showy evergreen berries.
“Winter Fiesta”: A newer variety that was selected for its dazzling white, evergreen berries with a pink blush.
Related species
The genus wintergreen includes four other plants native to the United States: Gaultheria humifusa (alpine winterberry), G. ovatifolia (Oregon peppery winterberry), G. hispidula (climbing snowberry), and G. shalon (salal).
They all belong to the Ericaceae family, which includes over four thousand species distributed around the world. Wintergreen is related to a diverse group of plants such as cranberry, rhododendron, manzanita, heather and mountain laurel.
Reproduction of evergreens
Berries in overdue autumn frosts.
Wintergreen can be grown from seeds planted in a pot in the soil and icy stratified (exposed to the icy) for two to three months to encourage germination.
The easiest way to grow fresh plants is to divide venerable, established evergreen colonies by gently digging up a compact part of the bush with the roots and placing it in acidic, well-drained soil for a few seasons. until he grows a larger root system for transplanting.
Another effortless method of propagating plants is to place part of the branches under a compact mound of soil to encourage roots to form; after a season or two, this part can be cut off from the mother plant and transplanted into a pot.
Pests and problems
Plants are not bothered by many pests, but the berries are sometimes caught by wild animals.
Care
Wintergreen has been used as a natural form of pain relief because all parts of the plant contain methyl salicylate, which is a natural chemical similar to aspirin.
It is protected to employ compact amounts of leaves and berries to brew drinksbut people who have an allergic reaction to aspirin should employ caution when using the leaves.
Evergreen oil
Industrially produced, wintergreen oil is a common herbal medicinal product used as: a natural remedy for sore muscles due to its beneficial anti-inflammatory properties.
But this type of oil contains chemically distilled oils whose methyl salicylate is much stronger than the leaves of the plant.
It can only be used as a topical skin cream, and is considered highly toxic and unsafe to consume in any form!
Notes
1. Euell Gibbons, Stalking the Wild Asparagus (Putney, VT: Alan C. Hood, 1962), 212.
2. Roger Phillips and Martyn Rix, The Botanical Garden (Buffalo: Firefly Books, 2002), p. 206.
3. Merritt Lyndon Fernald and Alfred Charles Kinsey, Edible Wild Plants of Eastern North America (Novel York: Harper & Brothers, 1958), 309; L. H. Bailey, Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, Vol. 2, ed. 3. (Novel York: Macmillan, 1930), 1318.
4. Cybele May, “Life Savers Pep-O-Mint & Wint-O-Green,” Candyblog (November 1, 2010), http://www.candyblog.net/blog /item/lifesavers_pep-o-mint_wint-o – green; Cybele May, “Classic Gums: Black Jack, Clove, Beemans & Teaberry,” Candy-blog (June 10, 2009), https://www.candyblog.net/blog/item/classic_gums.