Chamaedaphne calyculata

Leather-leaf

Botanical Information

• Evergreen shrub, grows up to 1.5 m
• Prefers peat bogs and margins of acid bogs
• White flowers bloom from late spring to early summer

Points of Interest

• Aboriginal peoples made a tea from the leaves to treat fever

Kalmia angustifolia

Sheep laurel

Botanical Information

• Evergreen shrub, grows up to 1.5 m
• Prefers sterile soil, old pastures and barrens
• Deep pink flowers bloom in the spring

Points of Interest

• Tea taken sparingly by Aboriginal peoples to treat colds, backaches and stomach ailments
• Can be used externally to treat pain, inflammation and headaches

Ledum groenlandicum

Labrador tea

Botanical Information

• Evergreen shrub, grows up to 1 m
• Prefers peaty soils, bogs
• Small white flowers bloom throughout the spring and summer

Points of Interest

• Leaves widely used by Aboriginal peoples in tea to treat asthma, colds, stomach-aches, headaches and other ailments
• Can be used externally for burns, rashes and insect stings
• A brown dye can be made from the plant
• Leaves can be used as a tobacco substitute

Pinus banksiana

Jack pine

Botanical Information

• Coniferous evergreen tree, grows
  up to 20 m
• Prefers barren, sandy or rocky soil
• Cones remain closed for many years, often until after a fire

Points of Interest

• Leaves and bark used medicinally by Aboriginal peoples in ointments and stimulants
• Roots were used to sew canoe seams and bark roofs; seams were sealed with resin
• Suitable for lumber and pulpwood

Rosa acicularis

Wild rose

Botanical Information

• Deciduous shrub, grows 1 to 2 m
• Prefers thickets and rocky slopes
• Pink flowers bloom in early summer
• Hips appear in late summer

Points of Interest

• Adopted as the floral emblem of Alberta in 1930
• Rich in vitamin C, rosehips can be used to make jelly and tea
• Roots, leaves and bark used by Aboriginal peoples in remedies for eye and stomach problems

Sarracenia purpurea

Pitcher plant

Botanical Information

• Evergreen perennial herb, grows up to 1 m
• Prefers bogs and peaty barrens
• Purplish-red flower blooms throughout the spring and summer

Points of Interest

• Provincial floral emblem of Newfoundland (1954) and Labrador
• Aboriginal peoples were the first to use the root to treat smallpox and other ailments
• Pitcher-shaped leaves capture and digest insects
• Leaf or root tea traditionally used to treat fever and chills, and ease childbirth