Gaultheria hispidula, commonly known as the creeping snowberry or moxie-plum, and known to Mi'kmaq tribes of Newfoundland as manna teaberry, is a perennial spreading ground-level vine of the heath family Ericaceae. It is native to North America and produces small white edible berries. It fruits from August to September. Its leaves and berries taste and smell like wintergreen.Peterson Field Guides: Edible Wild Plants, Lee Allen Peterson, 1977 The species epithet hispidula refers to the bristles on the stems and leaves.
Description Gaultheria hispidula is an evergreen prostrate shrub that forms a mat of stems and leaves that can reach in diameter and only high. The small leaves, which are under long, are arranged alternately along the stems. The stem and undersides of the leaves are covered with stiff hairs. The pale green-white flowers typically bloom between May and June, with fruits ripening between August and September.Dodds, Jill S. 2022. Gaultheria hispidula Rare Plant Profile. New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, State Parks, Forests & Historic Sites, State Forest Fire Service & Forestry, Office of Natural Lands Management, New Jersey Natural Heritage Program, Trenton, NJ. 18 pp.
The flowers develop on short, nodding stalks in the axils of the leaves. Each bell-shaped flower is composed of four sepals and four petals that are fused at the base. The petals end in slightly flared lobes. Like other species of Gaultheria, the flowers are bisexual, containing eight short stamens that do not extend past the corolla.
The fruits are capsules, surrounded by a persistent, fleshy white calyx giving it them the appearance of a small white berry. The surface of the fruits are also covered by short dark-red bristles. The fruit is edible and has an acidic, or wintergreen-like, taste.
Distribution and habitat Gaultheria hispidula grows in acidic and neutral soils in open woodland and forest verges, particularly on wet ground such as in or on the edge of bogs, often near tree stumps. Its original range spread from far northern Canada to as far south as North Carolina, but it has been extirpated from the southerly portions of its original range.
Ecology It is pollinated by solitary bees, bumblebees, bee-flies, and hoverflies, while chipmunks and deer mice spread the seed.
Conservation status Like most plants in North America, deforestation and competition with invasive ornamentals (especially shade-loving groundcovers, such as English ivy or winter creeper commonly sold at garden centers) affect the creeping snowberry significantly. As a result, it has been extirpated from some of its original range and classified as rare in several states. Despite this, its international status has been evaluated as secure. This is because it is still quite common in its more northerly range of greater Canada. However, deforestation and exotic invasion are continuing problems that affect all forest species in both Canada and the United States.
It is listed as endangered in Maryland and New Jersey, as threatened in Rhode Island, as sensitive in Washington, as rare in Pennsylvania, as presumed extirpated in Ohio, and as a species of special concern in Connecticut. (Note: This list is newer and updated from the one used by plants.usda.gov)
Uses The Algonquin people use an infusion of the leaves as a tonic for overeating.Black, Meredith Jean 1980 Algonquin Ethnobotany: An Interpretation of Aboriginal Adaptation in South Western Quebec. Ottawa. National Museums of Canada. Mercury Series Number 65 (p. 216) They also use the fruit as food.Black, p.102 The Anticosti use it as a sedative,Rousseau, Jacques 1946 Notes Sur L'ethnobotanique D'anticosti. Archives de Folklore 1:60-71 (p. 68) and the Mi'kmaq decoct the leaves or the whole plant for an unspecified purpose.Speck, Frank G. 1917 Medicine Practices of the Northeastern Algonquians. Proceedings of the 19th International Congress of Americanists Pp. 303-321 (p. 317) The Ojibwa people use the leaves to make a beverage.Densmore, Frances 1928 Uses of Plants by the Chippewa Indians. SI-BAE Annual Report #44:273-379 (p. 317) Etymologist Frederic Cassidy hypothesized that such medicinal uses of the "moxie-plum", or another similarly-named plant, inspired the name of the 1870s patent medicine and later soft drink Moxie.
The leaves can be cooked as a vegetable. The fruits can be eaten raw, baked, or used to make jam.
References