Wintergreen Essential Oil
Wintergreen Gaultheria procumbens is a perennial herb native to the eastern portion of North America. Formerly classified as Gaultheria repens and sometimes known locally as checkerberry, deerberry, Canada tea, spiceberry, teaberry, and mountain tea, this small shrublet, grows to 5 or 6 inches with white drooping flowers in June and July followed by bright red berries. Used by Native Americans to brew a tea. Mohawks, as well as Ojibwes, and others, knew the tea as medicinal as well as a healthful beverage. It contains methyl salycliates, the active painkilllers of asprin, useful for colds, headaches, and to bring down fevers. Such names as "teaberry" emphasize importance as a year-round beverage, and as a food flavoring for meat and fish cooked with fermented leaves. It is the source of "wintergreen oil," which was used as a flavoring in candies, chewing gum, and some medicine. The fruit is not at all insipid, it has a very strong spicy taste of germolene, just like being in a hospital waiting room. Best after a frost, the fruit hangs onto the plant until spring if it is not eaten by birds etc.
....more
| Botanical Name: | Gaultheria procumbens L. |
| Family: | Ericaceae |
| Synonyms: | Aromatic wintergreen, checkerberry, teaberry, gaultheria, boxberry. |
| See Also: | |
| Parts Used: | Macerated Leaves |
| Extraction Method: | Steam Distillation |
| Appearance: | Pale yellow to colourless liquid |
| Aroma Description: | Fresh, sharp, sweet-woody. |
| Perfume note: | |
| Consistancy: | Thin |
| Strength of Initial Aroma: | |
| Blends well with: | |
| Historical Uses: | The plant has been used for treating muscular and joint problems like lumbago, sciatica and neuralgia. |
| Modern Uses: | Wintergreen essential oil has been used to staunch bloody wounds, applied to dog bites, snakebites, and insect bites. Also used as a poultice, good for boils, swellings, ulcers, old sores. |
| Cautions: | Pure oil of wintergreen can cause irritation and must be used cautiously. It is poisonous except in very small amounts. Essential oil is highly toxic; absorbed through skin, harms liver and kidneys. Almost all wintergreen oil that is commercially available is synthetic methyl salicylate. |
|
|
|
