Labrador Tea

The Labrador plant, once steeped, makes a tea—sometimes called swamp tea—that is surprisingly close to English breakfast tea. The plants grow in thick, knee to waist-high banks in the wet, spongy, acidic soil of lowland bogs across North America. The evergreen foliage resembles that of a rhododendron—with leathery dark green to rusting to magenta leaves that roll under at the edges. Yellow fur covering the underside of the leaves gives off a powerful lemony aroma when crushed, making the plant easy to identify. The plant’s fragrance and showy clusters of small white blossoms on the tips manifest from May through August.