# Eastern Teaberry (Gaultheria procumbens)

> An evergreen groundcover for acid shade, with glossy leaves that smell of wintergreen and red berries that often hang on through the winter.

Family: Ericaceae (heath family). Also called wintergreen, checkerberry, teaberry, American wintergreen, boxberry, mountain tea. Category: Native Shrubs. Grown from seed by Blue Whale Trees. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/eastern-teaberry/

![Eastern teaberry (Gaultheria procumbens) two red berries among glossy evergreen leaves on the forest floor](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/plants/eastern-teaberry-h1610-800.jpg)
*Photo: Alex Abair, CC BY 4.0, cropped · [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AGaultheria_procumbens_578067460.jpg)*

## Facts

- Type: Shrub
- Mature height: 1 ft
- USDA hardiness zones: 3 to 8
- Grows wild in: The forest understory, sandy barrens, dry uplands and the Appalachians
- Native range: 25 states and [the District of Columbia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=DC), north and west to [Minnesota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MN) and south to [Georgia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=GA) ([Alabama](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AL), [Connecticut](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CT), [Delaware](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=DE), [Georgia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=GA), [Illinois](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IL), [Indiana](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IN), [Kentucky](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=KY), [Maine](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=ME), [Maryland](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MD), [Massachusetts](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MA), [Michigan](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MI), [Minnesota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MN), [New Hampshire](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NH), [New Jersey](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NJ), [New York](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NY), [North Carolina](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NC), [Ohio](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OH), [Pennsylvania](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=PA), [Rhode Island](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=RI), [South Carolina](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=SC), [Tennessee](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=TN), [Vermont](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=VT), [Virginia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=VA), [West Virginia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WV), [Wisconsin](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WI) and [the District of Columbia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=DC))
- Sun: Part, Shade
- Soil moisture: Average, Dry
- Growth rate: Slow
- Flowers: June to August
- Fruit: Berries, September to February
- First crop: —
- Mature spread: 1 ft
- Traits: Evergreen, Tolerates shade, Edible, Wildlife value, Winter interest
- Sold as: Saplings, Seed

Heights and zones are typical ranges for the species in cultivation; local conditions and seed source shift them.

## Availability

Saplings ship [bare-root](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/planting-bare-root-trees-on-arrival/index.html.md) or [in a pot](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/a-sapling-in-a-pot/index.html.md), in the dormant season, and their [height and age](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/reading-a-nursery-listing/index.html.md) are stated with the price, once available. Live plants ship February to May and October to November. Not priced yet: leave an email on the web page for one email when it is priced, with a code for 10% off the plants in that order, not shipping or tax, or write to captain@bluewhaletrees.com.

## Notes

Eastern teaberry is a creeping evergreen of the heath family, and its crushed leaves and red berries smell and taste of wintergreen. Its upright stems rise a few inches from runners that creep underground through the leaf mold of oak and pine woods. In winter its leaves are among the few green ones in the woods, and chipmunks, grouse, mice and deer eat them. Mass it under oaks, pines or rhododendrons on acid soil, where it slowly spreads into a dense, glossy carpet.

## Size, growth and what to expect

It grows slowly, a few inches a year in our growth estimator. Its stems stand 3 to 8 inches tall, and a plant spreads 6 inches to a foot across. The glossy, leathery leaves are 1 to 2 inches long, and they turn purplish or reddish in cold weather.

Small, waxy white bells, sometimes tinged pink, nod beneath the leaves from June to August. The bright red berries, about a third of an inch across, ripen from September and often hang on through the winter. Grouse, pheasants, wild turkeys, chipmunks, foxes and black bears all eat teaberry, and the eastern chipmunk favors it.

It grows wild from Newfoundland and Manitoba south to Minnesota, Tennessee and Virginia, and in the mountains to Georgia and Alabama. Its home is acid woods of oak or pine, clearings, heath balds and the edges of bogs, usually on sandy or peaty soil.

## How to grow Eastern Teaberry

Eastern teaberry grows in part shade or shade, and it flowers and fruits best in light shade or a small opening. It needs an acid soil rich in organic matter that stays evenly moist but drains, and it does not take lime. Established plants stand some dryness, and it does best where summers are cool. Set plants 2 feet apart, or a foot apart for a quicker carpet, and keep them 2 feet from a wall. At its size it can go within 15 feet of overhead wires.

Saplings ship bare-root or potted. Plant them in spring or fall, in a hole wider than the roots and no deeper. Set the crown at the soil line, put the native soil back in, and keep the mulch ring clear of the stems. Sow the fine seed on the surface of a damp, acid mix in fall or early winter, and do not cover it. For spring, hold the damp seed in the refrigerator for 30 to 75 days first. Seed left unchilled is slow to come up, and even chilled seed comes up sparsely.

Water it every day for the first two weeks after planting, then every two to three days until week 12. After that, water weekly through the first two summers, since its roots lie within an inch of the surface. Once it is settled, thin the branches that shade it heavily, since more light brings more flowers and berries.

Bumblebees work the flowers, and a single plant can set fruit with its own pollen. No serious pests or diseases trouble it, though aphids, thrips, mildew and leaf spot turn up at times. The berries are edible raw or cooked, but tea from the leaves is no longer recommended. Oil of wintergreen, once made from the leaves, is methyl salicylate, and as little as 4 milliliters of it may be fatal to a child.

## Sources

- [NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox: Gaultheria procumbens](https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/gaultheria-procumbens/)
- [Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder: Gaultheria procumbens](https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?taxonid=279938)
- [Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Gaultheria procumbens](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=GAPR2)
- [USDA Forest Service, Fire Effects Information System: Gaultheria procumbens, Coladonato 1994](https://www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/plants/shrub/gaupro/all.html)
- [USDA Forest Service, Woody Plant Seed Manual (2008), Gaultheria chapter, Huffman, Zasada and Stein](https://www.fs.usda.gov/nsl/Wpsm/Gaultheria.pdf)
- [Flora of North America, vol. 8: Gaultheria procumbens](http://floranorthamerica.org/Gaultheria_procumbens)
- [Go Botany (Native Plant Trust): Gaultheria procumbens, eastern spicy-wintergreen](https://gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/gaultheria/procumbens/)
- [Native Plant Network: propagation protocol for Gaultheria procumbens, Baskin and Baskin 2001](https://npn.rngr.net/renderNPNProtocolDetails?selectedProtocolIds=ericaceae-gaultheria-1968)
- [PubChem, National Library of Medicine: Methyl salicylate, CID 4133](https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/4133)
- [NatureServe Explorer: Gaultheria procumbens](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.143319/Gaultheria_procumbens)

## Read before planting

- [Ten planting mistakes that quietly kill trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/ten-planting-mistakes/index.html.md)
- [Transplanting young trees: timing, water and protection](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/transplanting-young-trees/index.html.md)
- [Protecting young trees from voles, rabbits, deer and squirrels](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/protecting-trees-from-animals/index.html.md)
- [Low native shrubs and groundcovers for sun, shade, sand and bog](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/low-native-shrubs-and-groundcovers/index.html.md)
- [The habitat around a tree is part of the tree](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/habitat-around-a-tree/index.html.md)
- [What a young tree looks like: first-year seedlings of oak, walnut, hickory, chestnut, maple and redbud, and the weed trees to pull](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/what-a-young-tree-looks-like/index.html.md)

## Related

- Plants that share its sun and soil: [Box Huckleberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/box-huckleberry/index.html.md), [Trailing Arbutus](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/trailing-arbutus/index.html.md), [Roundleaf Serviceberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/roundleaf-serviceberry/index.html.md) and [Black Huckleberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/black-huckleberry/index.html.md)
- Trees to plant it under: [Hop Hornbeam](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/hop-hornbeam/index.html.md), [Sourwood](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/sourwood/index.html.md) and [Northern Red Oak](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/northern-red-oak/index.html.md)
- Same size, similar character: [Black Raspberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/black-raspberry/index.html.md), [Sand Cherry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/sand-cherry/index.html.md), [Nantucket Serviceberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/nantucket-serviceberry/index.html.md) and [Ninebark](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/ninebark/index.html.md)
- [Planting-site check](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md): for a thrive, struggle or fail verdict on Eastern Teaberry, add ?species=eastern-teaberry with zone (2 to 10), sun (full, part, shade) and moisture (dry, average, wet) to that address; for example, the verdict for zone 3, part sun and average soil as Markdown is at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md?species=eastern-teaberry&zone=3&sun=part&moisture=average
- [Companion species for Eastern Teaberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=eastern-teaberry): the natives that share its ground and the plants that pair with it in a yard.
- [Tree growth estimator](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md): how the height and trunk projections are made; the estimate for Eastern Teaberry as Markdown is at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md?species=eastern-teaberry (add height=, years= and site= poor, average or good)
- [Seed sowing planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md): how Eastern Teaberry is sown, in the chart for every species (treatment, cold days, depth, timing); the dated plan for it as Markdown is at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md?species=eastern-teaberry (add state= and zone= for your own frost dates, method=fridge for the refrigerator route)
- [Pollination planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md): what Eastern Teaberry needs for a crop and how many to plant, in the table for every species; the verdict for 1 of them as Markdown is at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md?plants=eastern-teaberry:1
- [Planting-window tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md): when to plant Eastern Teaberry where you live, as a fall and a spring window from the local frost dates; the windows as Markdown are at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md?species=eastern-teaberry&state=MO&zone=6 with your own state and zone in place of those
- [Planting-distance tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md): how far Eastern Teaberry goes from a house, a septic field, a walk, wires, a property line and the next tree; the distances as Markdown are at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md?species=eastern-teaberry&near=house,septic,pavement,wires,boundary,tree
- [Bloom and fruit calendar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md): the months Eastern Teaberry flowers and fruits, in the grid for every species; its own row and the gaps of a planting with it as Markdown at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=eastern-teaberry