Gaultheria procumbens (wintergreen)

Japanese name: チェッカーベリー
Scientific name: Gaultheria procumbens

[Overview]
An evergreen dwarf shrub 10–15 cm tall.
Branches rise from a rhizome that creeps underground.
The leaves are simple and alternate, ovate to elliptical, about 2–5 cm long and 1–2 cm wide, thick in texture, with small serrations on the margins.
The leaves take on a reddish tinge in winter.
One to three flowers are borne in the leaf axils in the upper part of the stem.
The flowers hang downward, are bell-shaped, and are white or slightly tinged with pink.
The top of each anther has 2 awns.
The fruit is a capsule, but the calyx swells and encloses it, forming a red, spherical, berry-like structure 0.6–0.9 cm in diameter.

[Uses]
It contains methyl salicylate and is used medicinally and as an herbal tea.
Extracts are used to flavor tea, candy, medicines, chewing gum and other products.

[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed, by division, or by cuttings.
It prefers partial shade with good ventilation and well-drained, moderately moist, slightly acidic soil.
It prefers a cool climate, so avoid heat and humidity, direct summer sun, and dry cold winds in winter.
Water when the soil surface dries, taking care to avoid heat and humidity; in summer, water in the evening or later, when the temperature drops.
Do not let it become extremely dry in winter either.
In spring and autumn, apply slow-release chemical fertilizer or organic fertilizer placed on the soil, or give liquid fertilizer once a week, making sure no fertilizer remains in midsummer.
There are no particular pests or diseases.

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