Skip to site navigation

Gaultheria procumbens AGM

Home  |  Plants > Plant Selector > Gaultheria procumbens AGM

© www.gardenworldimages.com

Characteristics

Plant type

Shrub

Habit

Suckering

Fragrance

Leaf

Toxicity

All parts may cause severe discomfort if ingested

Resilience

Hardiness

old H4 (hardy)

Colour

Flower

White and Pale Pink in Summer

Foliage

Red in Winter

Fruit

Red in Autumn and Summer

Size

Ultimate height

0.1-0.5 metres

Ultimate spread

0.5-1 metres

Time to ultimate height

5-10 years


Preferred common name

checkerberry

Family

Ericaceae


Gaultheria are evergreen, often dioecious, shrubs with simple, leathery leaves and small, bell-shaped white or pink flowers, followed by long lasting fleshy fruits in various colours

G. procumbens is a dwarf evergreen shrub to 15cm in height, spreading indefinitely, with rounded leathery leaves, aromatic when crushed and turning reddish in winter. Small, bell-shaped white or pinkish flowers are followed by scarlet berries 10mm in width

Other common names

  • American mountain tea
  • aromatic wintergreen
  • boxberry
  • Canada tea
  • canterberry
  • chequerberry
  • chickenberry
  • chinks
  • creeping checkerberry
  • creeping wintergreen
  • creeping wintergreen checkerberry
  • drunkards
  • gingerberry
  • ground tea
  • groundberry
  • grouseberry
  • one-berry
  • partridge berry
  • procalm
  • red pollom
  • spiceberry
  • spicy wintergreen checkerberry
  • spring wintergreen
  • squaw plum
  • squaw vine
  • squawberry
  • tea leaves
  • teaberry
  • wintergreen
  • wintergreen oil plant
  • youngsters

How to grow

Sunlight

  • Part shade
  • Full shade

Aspect

  • South-facing, North-facing, West-facing or East-facing
  • Sheltered or Exposed

Cultivation

Grow in moist soils in shade or partial shade

Soil

  • Moist but well-drained
  • Acid or Neutral
  • Loam, Clay or Sand

Propagation

Propagate by seed or semi-hardwood cuttings

Suggested planting locations and garden types

Banks and Slopes, City/Courtyard Gardens, Cottage/Informal Garden, Flower borders and beds, Gravel Garden, Low Maintenance, Patio/Container Plants or Rock Garden


How to care

Pruning

Pruning group 8

Pests

Generally pest free

Diseases

Generally disease free