‘Berry Cascade’: A trademarked productive variety that produces fruits along the entire stem of the vine, instead of just on the ends of stems.
‘Cherry Berries’: A cultivar selected for extra-large, showy wintergreen berries.
‘Winter Fiesta’: A newer cultivar that was selected for its bright white wintergreen berries with a pink blush.
Related Species
The wintergreen genus includes four other plants that are native to the United States: Gaultiria Humilusa (alpine Wintergree), G. OVATATITIA (OROMON SPICION WINTERGREEN), G. Hispidula (Creping Snowberry), and G. Shallon (Salal).
These are all part of the Ericaceae family, which includes over four thousand species distributed all over the world. Wintergreen is related to a diverse group of plants such as cranberry, rhododendron, manzanita, heather, and mountain laurel.
Wintergreen Propagation
Berries in late fall frost.
Wintergreen can be grown from seeds that are potted up in soil and cold-stratified (exposed to cold) for two to three months to induce them to germinate.
The easiest way to generate new plants is to divide old, established wintergreen colonies by gently digging up a small section of the shrub that has some roots attached to it, and potting it up with acidic, well-drained soil for a few sea- sons until it has grown a larger root system for transplanting.
Another easy method for propagating plants is to layer a section of the branch under a small mound of soil to encourage roots to form; after a season or two, this part can be cut away from the mother plant and potted up.
Pests and Problems
The plants are not bothered by many pests, but the berries do occasionally get taken by wildlife.
Caution
Wintergreen was used as a natural form of pain relief because all of the parts of the plants contain methyl salicylate, which is a natural aspirin-like chemical.
Using small amounts of the leaves and berries for brewing drinks is safebut people who have an allergic reaction to aspirin should exercise caution when using the leaves.
Wintergreen Oil
Commercially produced wintergreen oil is a common herbal medical product used as a natural remedy for sore muscles because of its beneficial anti-inflammatory properties.
But this type of oil contains chemically distilled oils whose methyl salicylate is much stronger than the leaves of the plant.
It can be used only as a topical skin cream, and is considered highly toxic and dangerous to ingest in any form!
Notes
1. Euell Gibbons, Stalking the Wild Asparagus (Putney, VT: Alan C. Hood, 1962), 212.
2. Roger Phillips and Martyn Rix, The Botanical Garden (Buffalo: Firefly Books, 2002), 206.
3. Merritt Lyndon Fernald and Alfred Charles Kinsey, Edible Wild Plants of Eastern North America (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1958), 309; L. H. Bailey, The Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, vol. 2, 3rd ed. (New York: Macmillan, 1930), 1318.
4. Cybele May, “Life Savers Pep-O-Mint & Wint-O-Green,” Candyblog (November 1, 2010), http://www.candyblog.net/blog /item/lifesavers_pep-o-mint_wint-o -green; Cybele May, “Classic Gums: Black Jack, Clove, Beemans & Teaberry,” Candy- blog (June 10, 2009), https://www .candyblog.net/ blog/item/classic_gums.
