DCHP-2

maidenhair maiden hair, Maiden Hair, Maidenhair, magna-tea, maidner tea, manna-tea DCHP-2 (October 2016)

• n. — Newfoundland, Flora

  either of two species of evergreen shrub, Gaultheria hispidula (see Image 1) or Gaultheria procumbens; the fruit of these plants.

  Type: 2. Preservation — In Newfoundland, maidenhair is the name for two species of the Gaultheria plant genus, G. hispidula and G. procumbens. The term is preserved from British English, where it can refer to any of several types of creeping plants (see EDD, s.v. "maiden" (2), for a list of examples). It is also seen in the US in reference to G. hispidula (DARE, s.v. "maidenhair-berry"), though the name is more common with a series of ferns (DAE, s.v. "Maidenhair"). More popular names in the US for G. hispidula are creeping snowberry or moxie plum, which match the plant somewhat better than the Newfoundland term (see Image 1). It is unclear whether the vastly different Newfoundland spelling variants, such as magnatea or manna-tea, derive from maidenhair or from manna, of biblical origins, which has been applied to a number of plants (see the 1987 quotation).
  See also OED-3, s.v. "maidenhair" (3.d), which is marked "regional (chiefly Newfoundland)".

  See also: teaberry