Marsh Labrador tea (Ledum palustre)

At a glance

Lifecycle: Perennial (hardy)
Exposure: Full sun
Frost limit: −45.6 °C

Cultivation

Requires a lime-free loam or peaty soil. Hardy to at least -15°c. The leaves are very aromatic. Plants benefit from removing the dead flowers before they set seed. This prevents them putting too much energy into seed production at the expense of more flowers and leaves. A good bee plant.

Propagation

Seed - surface sow in a shady part of the greenhouse in February or March. Cuttings of half-ripe wood, 5 - 8cm with a heel, July/August in a frame. Plant out in spring. Fair percentage. Cuttings of mature wood, November/December in a frame. Layering in the autumn. Takes 12 months. Division.

Edible uses

A tea is made from the aromatic leaves. Some caution is advised, see the notes above on toxicity. It would be better to brew the tea in cold water by leaving it in a sunny place, or to make sure that it is brewed for a short time only in an open container. The leaves are used as a flavouring, they are a bayleaf substitute. The plant has been used as a hop substitute in making beer, though this has caused an unpleasant kind of drunkenness which is accompanied by a headache and dizziness.

Medicinal uses

The leaves and young flowering shoots are astringent, diaphoretic, disinfectant, diuretic, laxative, pectoral, stomachic and tonic. A homeopathic remedy is made from the whole, dried and powdered, plant.

Material uses

The leaves are hung up in the clothes cupboard in order to repel insects. The leaves contain tannin.

Habitat

Possibly native to Britain in acid bogs near Bridge of Allan in Sterling and Perth. A rare escape elsewhere in Britain.

Native range

Northern Europe, including Britain, from Scandanavia south and east to Germany amd Japan.

Scientific synonyms Rhododendron tomentosum