Ledum
(from Ledon, the ancient Greek name used by Dioscorides for the Cistus). Labrador Tea. SYN. Dulia. ORD. Ericaceoe. A small genus (four or five species) of very ornamental, dwarf, hardy evergreen shrubs, inhabiting the Frigid and Arctic regions of the Northern hemisphere. Flowers white, disposed in many-flowered terminal umbels; petals five, obovate, obtuse, spreading; stamens five or ten, rarely six or seven, exserted; pedicels bracteate at base. Leaves alternate, shortly petiolate, linear or oblong; margins recurved, entire, rusty underneath, coriaceous. Like most other so-called American plants, the species succeed best in well-drained beds of peat and leaf mould, to which sharp sand or road grit should be added. Propagated by seeds, but principally by layering, in sandy-peat soil, and by careful divisions of established plants in autumn and winter. Raising and establishing young plants takes some considerable time to accomplish. When transplanting Ledums, it is necessary to keep the ball of earth surrounding the roots as intact as possible.
L. buxifolium. See Leiophyllum buxifolium.
L. canadense (Canadian). A synonym of L. latifolium canadense. L. glandulosum (glandular). fl. white; inflorescence often compound and crowded calyx five-parted. l. oblong or oval, or approaching lanceolate, pale or whitish, and minutely resinous-dotted beneath. h. 2ft. to 6ft. North America.
L. latifolium (broad-leaved).* fl. white; stamens five, about the length of the corolla. April and May. l. linear-oblong, with replicate margins, clothed with rusty tomentum beneath. h. 1ft. to 3ft. United States, &c., 1763. A handsome shrub, the leaves of which are said to be a good substitute for tea. (L. B. C. 534.) L. l. canadense (Canadian). fl. white, large, disposed in terminal umbellate corymbs. April and May. l. ovate, petiolate, white beneath. h. 3in. to 6in. Canada. SYN. L. canadense (under which name it is figured in L. B. C. 1049). L. l globosum (globose) is a garden form, superior to the type (G. C. n. s., ix. 698.) L. palustre (marsh).* fl. white; stamens ten, longer than the corolla. April and May. l. linear, with revolute margins, clothed with rusty tomentum beneath. h. 2ft. Northern hemisphere, 1762. A smaller and narrower-leaved species than L. latifolium. (L. B. C. 560.)