Gaultheria hispidula
Credits
New article for Trees and Shrubs Online.
Recommended citation
'Gaultheria hispidula' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.
Other taxa in genus
- Gaultheria adenothrix
- Gaultheria antipoda
- Gaultheria codonantha
- Gaultheria cuneata
- Gaultheria eriophylla
- Gaultheria forrestii
- Gaultheria fragrantissima
- Gaultheria hirtiflora
- Gaultheria hispida
- Gaultheria hookeri
- Gaultheria miqueliana
- Gaultheria mucronata
- Gaultheria nummularioides
- Gaultheria oppositifolia
- Gaultheria ovatifolia
- Gaultheria procumbens
- Gaultheria pyroloides
- Gaultheria rupestris
- Gaultheria shallon
- Gaultheria tetramera
- Gaultheria trichophylla
- Gaultheria wardii
- Gaultheria × wisleyensis
- Gaultheria yunnanensis
This species was described by Bean (1976) as Chiogenes hispidula, but as noted in the Supplement (Clarke 1988, below) the genus Chiogenes has been sunk into Gaultheria, and the text has been transferred here (JMG, July 2022).
From the Supplement (Vol.V):
Although this genus [Chiogenes] has been grouped with Vaccinium and Gaylussacia by some botanists, its affinity is really with Gaultheria, in which it is now usually included. Both the species mentioned have valid alternative names in that genus – C. hispidula as G. hispidula (L.) Muhl. and its Japanese ally as G. japonica (Gray) Sleum.
A creeping, evergreen shrub, the slender stems furnished with forward-pointing bristles. Leaves alternate, very abundant, 1⁄8 to 1⁄3 in. long, oval to nearly round, tapered at both ends, scarcely stalked; margins slightly decurved; glabrous and dark green above, pale beneath, and furnished with a few tiny, rust-coloured bristles. Flowers produced singly in the leaf-axils on short, decurved stalks; corolla 1⁄8 in. or less long, bell-shaped, deeply four-lobed, white; stamens eight; ovary half-inferior. Berry white, 1⁄3 in. across, roundish and rather bristly.
Native of N. America, from Newfoundland westward to British Columbia, and southward to N. Carolina; introduced in 1815. This plant is very rare in gardens, and the plant nearly always found under the name is one of the cranberries. These are nearly allied plants, but this species is abundantly distinct in leaf, flower, and especially the white berry. Out of flower the short, broad leaf and bristly young wood amply distinguish it. It has little garden value as an ornament, but is interesting. A moist, semi-boggy spot such as the cranberries love, should, if possible, be selected for it. The whole plant, including the berry, has an aromatic taste and odour, resembling that of Gaultheria procumbens. The Japanese G. japonica is closely allied. It is probably not in cultivation.