Plantae > Tracheophyta > Magnoliopsida > Ericales > Ericaceae > Gaultheria > Gaultheria humifusaGaultheria humifusa (alpine spicywintergreen; western wintergreen)Synonyms: Brossaea myrsinites; Gaultheria myrsinites; Vaccinium humifusum (homotypic); Vaccinium obtusum Gaultheria humifusa is a species of shrub in the heath family which is known by the common names alpine wintergreen and alpine spicy wintergreen. It is native to western North America, from British Columbia to California to Colorado, where it grows in moist subalpine mountain forests. It is a low, spreading shrub which may be quite small, forming flat patches on the ground or amongst rock and leaf litter. The stems are less than 20 centimeters in length and have small oval-shaped leaves one to two centimeters long. It bears solitary bell-shaped flowers with white to light pink corollas and golden anthers which, after pollination, mature into bright to dull red berrylike fruit capsules. The leaves and fruit of Gaultheria humifusa are edible. |
Allergen Potential [1] | Low |  | Edible [2] | May be edible. See the Plants For A Future link below for details. | Flower Type [2] | Hermaphrodite | Leaf Type [2] | Evergreen | Lifespan [3] | Perennial | Pollinators [2] | Insects, Lepidoptera | Structure [2] | Shrub | Usage [2] | A ground cover plant for positions in the sun or light shade.
A black dye has been made from the plant; |  | Height [2] | 3.937 inches (0.1 m) | Width [2] | 12 inches (0.3 m) | View Plants For A Future Record : Gaultheria humifusa |
Name |
IUCN Category |
Area acres |
Location |
Species |
Website |
Climate |
Land Use |
Banff National Park |
II |
1690912 |
Alberta, Canada |
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Crater Lake National Park |
II |
180091 |
Oregon, United States |
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Fraser Biosphere Reserve |
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23050 |
Colorado, United States |
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Glacier National Park |
II |
953799 |
Montana, United States |
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Jasper National Park |
II |
2776809 |
Alberta, Canada |
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Kootenay National Park |
II |
341762 |
British Columbia, Canada |
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Mount Revelstoke National Park |
Ia |
18 |
British Columbia, Canada |
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Olympic Biosphere Reserve |
II |
922805 |
Washington, United States |
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Rocky Mountain Biosphere Reserve |
II |
239938 |
Colorado, United States |
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Yellowstone Biosphere Reserve |
II |
2196863 |
Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, United States |
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Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0
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