Labrador Tea

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Low evergreen shrub less than 1 m tall.

Flowers: White, 1 cm wide, 5 parted in small clusters. Flowers early spring.

Habitat: Conifer swamps, treed bogs and moist depressions in upland forests.

Deer feed on leaves of Labrador tea. It is also a well known beverage and is quite thirst quenching. The Ojibway preferred it as a beverage while traveling. Cree called labrador tea karkarpukwa. Plants are said to have medicinal properties to treat headaches and restlessness. It is said to be an insect repellent when made from crushed leaves, alcohol and glycerine and is apparently very effective for keeping mosquitoes away and relieving insect bites. Aboriginal peoples also used the leaves as a tobacco substitute. A brown dye was made from Labrador tea.

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