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Labrador Tea

Rhododendron groenlandicum

An aromatic evergreen shrub of northern bogs, its narrow leaves rolled at the edges and felted rusty-brown beneath, topped by rounded clusters of small white flowers. The leaves have long been steeped as a tea, though they carry toxic alkaloids and are unsafe in quantity. Demands cold, acid, permanently moist peat and will not tolerate heat or lime.

Family

Ericaceae

Type

shrub

Lifespan

perennial

Height

3–3 ft

Spacing

5–5 ft apart

Light

sun, part shade, shade

Soil moisture

moist, wet

Soil pH

acidic, neutral

Bloom

May, June, July

Bloom colors

white

Wildlife value

pollinators

Caterpillar hosts

~51 butterfly & moth species

Landscape uses

naturalizing, rain garden, border

Native states

AK, CT, ID, MA, ME, MI, MN, ND, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OR, PA, SD, VT, WA, WI