DCHP-1 Online

Labrador tea

• 1a either of two closely related evergreen shrubs, Ledum groenlandicum and L. decumbens var. palustre.

  See also: country tea (def. 1)  Hudson Bay tea  Indian tea (def. 1)  Indian tea-plant  Labrador (def. 1)  Labrador tea plant  squaw tea  swamp tea (def. 1)  wild tea  wishakapucka  woolly Labrador tea  muskeg tea (def. 1)  

  • 1822  (1928)  On the skirts of the forest, and of the marshes, are found . . . the Indian or Labrador Tea, sweet-gale, and two species of roses.
  • 1830  (1837)  Labrador tea [is] an evergreen shrub two or three feet high, with dark brownish green leaves, rust colour beneath.
  • 1910  Labrador tea, which belongs to the heath family, grows along the road.
  • 1951  Labrador tea, the curling, rusty-bottomed leaves of the short perennial shrub we'd noticed in muskegs, is another favourite tobacco substitute.
  • 1965  Between and among the sparse conifers is a shrub layer, usually of dwarf birches or Labrador tea.

• 1b an infusion made from the leaves of L. groenlandicum or from the flowers of L. palustre.

  See also: bush tea  country tea (def. 2)  swamp tea (def. 2)  wishakapucka tea  muskeg tea (def. 2)  

  • 1833  (1963)  Had some Labradore tea for dinner yesterday. . . .
  • 1897  So all we had for 62 hours was two small rabbits (at least we thought them small) and Labrador tea with snowballs and mountain scenery, and a few moose tracks for dessert.
  • 1963  Living entirely off the country--on deer, fish . . . and Labrador tea--the men worked well. . . .

• 2 See woolly Labrador tea 1955 quote.

  See also: woolly Labrador tea  

  • 1955  The most widespread flowering shrub in Canada is in all probability that known as Labrador Tea. There are two varieties of this plant but the one best known in the Canadian Rockies is that known as Woolly Labrador tea, the glossy leaves having a rusty-red wool on the underside.