LABRADOR TEA
Rhododendron groenlandicum / Rhododendron tomentosum are the scientific names.
It also goes by trappers tea, Hudson Bay tea, muskeg tea, Greenland tea, Greenland moss and story telling tea.
It’s old botanical name is Ledum groenlandicum.
It can be found growing in peaty soils, bogs, muskegs, moist conifer forests and meadows. It can be found throughout N. America, Russia, Greenland, NWT, Yukon, and Scandinavia.
You use the leafs and flowers.
Medical Uses
Labrador tea has analgesic properties that help with pain when made into a poultice/infused oil/ointment and allpied externally. It can also help with pain when taken internally as tea. It’s said to be a mild blood cleanser.
In a study published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology in 1992, Dr. Allison McCutcheon and colleagues found that branches of labrador tea act as an antibiotic against E. coli and Bacillus subtilis. Previous studies demonstrated the flowering heads in and extract were effective against both bacteria as well as yeast Candida albicans. other researchers also found extracts from the leaves active again Staphylococcus aureus bacterium.
Research from Quebec that is published by EthnoPharm Journal in 2007 found extracts from the leaf of labrador tea has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. The twigs were also active against colon carcinoma and carcinoma cells.
Other research found labrador tea extract appear to possess activity that confirms The traditional aboriginal use of a leaf tea for type two diabetes.
Labrador tea used topically treat skin problems ranging from burns, ulcers, itchy chapped skin, bug stings,scabies and dandruff.
Labrador tea tincture can kill or deter head lice too!
Labrador Tea is high in Vitamin C
CAUTIONS!
Use in moderation. Be particularly careful not to use and access if you are pregnant or have high blood pressure. In large doses it can be considered cathartic and cause diarrhea.
All info is condensed from my book The Boreal Herbal written by Beverley Gray
I found the tea while foraging for high bush cranberries in our back yard 😊
I filled 6 dehydrator trays with the leafs.
Proof I own the book and do my research