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This fast-growing, evergreen subshrub with aromatic foliage and white berries forms leafy mats on logs and hummocks, often near sphagnum moss, in bogs and wetland forests in the northern and eastern United States and Canada. It's classified as a Facultative Wetland plant, meaning it usually occurs in wetlands but may also occur in non-wetlands. Like others in the Heath family, it thrives in acidic soils but adapts to neutral pH. It tolerates both well-drained and boggy conditions and prefers shadier sites, faring poorly when the overhead canopy is removed. Plants in this genus are notably resistant to honey fungus,

 

White, bell-shaped flowers appear May to June, followed by rounded, creamy-white berries that taste of mildly sweet wintergreen. The showy berries ripen August to September, often hidden within the masses of tiny leaves. The edible berry's flavor is more concentrated than that of the wintergreen berry (Gaultheria procumbens), and the culinary experience has been described as that of chewing "a wet Tic-Tac." The mat of leaves resembles other members of the Heath family, especially cranberries, but creeping snowberry is easily distinguished by the bristly hairs on its stems and undersides of leaves. Creeping snowberry is not a true snowberry (Symphoricarpos spp.), which has opposite, deciduous leaves.  

 

Creeping snowberry is presumed extirpated in Ohio, possibly due to road development, competition with invasive non-natives, deforestation, and sensitivity to surface disturbance. It spreads mostly by asexual reproduction from stems rooting at the nodes as they creep across mossy substrates. To facilitate seed dispersal, the many-seeded fruit capsules lie low to the ground well into winter, providing food for chipmunks and mice.

 

Another common name for creeping snowberry is "moxie," or "moxie plum." The word "moxie" may be derived from the Algonquin Indian word "maski," meaning "medicine." The genus Gaultheria honors Hugues Gaultier, a naturalist and physician in Quebec in the mid-18th century. Hispidula refers to the bristles on the stems and leaves. 

 

Native habitats include cool, mixed or coniferous forests; cool swamps and bogs; and moist woodlands. Use as a groundcover in moist, shady areas.

 

Plant Characteristics:

Grows 8 - 18" tall.

 

Prefers part or full shade.

 

Prefers moist to wet soils and adapts to well-drained. 

 

Single flowers, 1/16 -1/8" wide, hang on short, hairy stalks in the leaf axils, which are sporadic along the undersides of the running stems. Flowers have 4 pointed, slightly flaring, broadly oval petal lobes and sit in 2 light green bracts. Orange stamens encircle a single whitish style in the flower's center. The fruit is a capsule surrounded by the fleshy calyx, giving the appearance of a berry.  Capsules are 1/4 - 1/2" wide and scattered with red bristles.  

 

Alternate, simple, broadly elliptical to nearly round leaves are 1/4 - 1/3" long with slightly pointed tips. The upper surface is smooth and dark green, and the underside is light green with scattered, bristly hairs. Margins are smooth with widely spaced, bristly hairs. 

 

Slender stems are woody with scaly hairs.

 

Reproductive System: male and female parts are on same flower (hermaphrodite).

 

Wildlife Value:

Host plant for larvae of the bog fritillary. Pollinators include solitary bees, bumblebees, bee-flies, and hover flies. The berries are eaten by birds, chipmunks and deer mice. Mice nest in the plant and eat the bark of the stems in winter, causing die-back.

 

Medicinal, Edible, and Other Uses:

The Algonquin used an infusion of leaves as a tonic for overeating. The Anticosti used the plant as a sedative to facilitate sleep.

 

The berries are sometimes eaten fresh, with cream and sugar, or made into a preserve. The leaves are reportedly eaten raw or cooked or are used to make a tea. The Chippewa used the leaves to make a beverage.

 

Resources:

NJ Dept of Environmental Protection: chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.nj.gov/dep/parksandforests/natural/heritage/docs/gaultheria-hispidula-creeping-snowberry.pdf

 

Minnesota Wildflowers: https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/shrub/creeping-snowberry

 

Ohio Dept of Natural Resources: https://ohiodnr.gov/discover-and-learn/plants-trees/flowering-plants/fringed-gentian

 

Plants for a Future: https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Gaultheria+hispidula

 

USDA Forest Service: https://www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/gaultheria_hispidula.shtml

 

Washington DNR: https://www.dnr.wa.gov/publications/amp_nh_gahi2.pdf

 

Wild Adirondacks: https://wildadirondacks.org/adirondack-wildflowers-creeping-snowberry-gaultheria-hispidula.html

 

 

 

Snowberry, Creeping, Gaultheria hispidula

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