Wintergreen

wintergreen a wild plant of N. America, Gaultheria procumbens of the heather family. It has other common names, notably chequerberry. The name wintergreen has also been used for the unrelated plant Mitchella repens, which is better called partridge berry.

Both plants produce purple or red berries with a sour, aromatic flavour, but the former is preferred since its berries are juicier. American Indians ate them and made a tonic tea from both the berries and the leathery scented leaves. In the 18th century this tea was the subject of favourable comment by, among others, a French doctor whose friend Pehr Kalm, the Swedish traveller, named the genus for him.