Editing Labrador tea

{{Short description|Tea made from three related plant species}}
[[File:Labrador Tea flower.jpg|thumb|right|Close-up of a Labrador tea flower, found in the alpine zone of northern New Hampshire]]
[[File:Loddiges 534 Ledum latifolium drawn by W Miller.jpg|thumb|right|''Ledum latifolium'', an earlier name for ''Rhododendron groenlandicum'']]

'''Labrador tea''' is a common name for three closely related plant species in the genus ''[[Rhododendron]]'' as well as a [[herbal tea]] made from their leaves. All three species are primarily wetland plants in the [[Ericaceae|heath family]]. Labrador tea has been a favorite beverage for a long time among the [[Dene]] and [[Inuit]] peoples.

==Description==
All three species used to make Labrador tea are low, slow-growing shrubs with evergreen leaves:
* ''[[Rhododendron tomentosum]]'' (northern Labrador tea, previously ''Ledum palustre''),
* ''[[Rhododendron groenlandicum]]'', (bog Labrador tea, previously ''Ledum groenlandicum'' or ''Ledum latifolium'') and
* ''[[Rhododendron neoglandulosum]]'', (western Labrador tea, or trapper's tea, previously ''Ledum glandulosum'' or ''Ledum columbianum'').

The leaves are smooth on top with often wrinkled edges, and fuzzy white to red-brown underneath, and point straight to the sides or downward.<ref name="Dampc">{{cite journal |author1=Dampc, A. |author2=M. Luczkiewicz|title=Labrador tea – the aromatic beverage and spice: a review of origin, processing and safety |journal=Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture |volume=95 |issue=8|pages=1577–83|date=2015|pmid=25156477 |doi=10.1002/jsfa.6889|bibcode=2015JSFA...95.1577D }}</ref>

''R. tomentosum'', ''R. groenlandicum'', and ''R. neoglandulosum'' can be found in wetlands and peat bogs.<ref name="Dampc" />

==Uses==
The Athabaskans and other indigenous peoples brew the leaves as a beverage.<ref name="Dampc" />  The [[Pomo]], [[Kashaya language|Kashaya]], [[Tolowa]] and [[Yurok people|Yurok]] of [[Northern California]] boil the leaves of western Labrador tea similarly, to make a medicinal herbal tea to help with coughs and colds.<ref>[http://herb.umd.umich.edu/herb/search.pl?searchstring=Ledum+glandulosum Native American Ethnobotany Database for Ledum glandulosum]</ref> Botanical extracts from the leaves have been used to create natural skin care products by companies in Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador. Others use Labrador tea to spice meat by boiling the leaves and branches in water and then soaking the meat in the [[decoction]].{{cn|date=October 2023}}

During the eighteenth century, German brewers used ''R. tomentosum'' while brewing beer to make it more intoxicating, but it became forbidden because it was thought to have led to increased aggression.<ref name="Dampc" />

==Toxicology==
There is no sufficient data that demonstrates Labrador tea is safe to consume, as toxicity varies across species and localities. Excessive consumption  is not recommended due to [[diuresis]], vomiting, dizziness, and drowsiness.<ref name="Dampc" /> Large doses can lead to cramps, convulsions, paralysis, and, in rare cases, death.<ref name="Dampc" />

Toxicity occurs due to the [[terpenoid]] [[ledol]] which is found in all Labrador tea species. ''R. groenlandicum'' has the lowest toxicity due to lower levels of ledol. Moderately narcotic [[Grayanotoxins]] are also present, but few lethal human cases of poisoning solely due to grayanotoxins have been documented. However, lethal poisonings have been documented in livestock.<ref name="Dampc" />

==Harvesting==
Tea leaves are collected from multiple plants in the spring. Labrador tea is slow-growing, so only a single new leaf is collected from a plant every other year, to avoid damaging individual plants.<ref name="Dampc" />

==See also==
* [[Innu tea doll|Labrador tea doll]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Herbal teas}}

[[Category:Herbal teas]]
[[Category:Inuit cuisine]]
[[Category:Plant common names]]
[[Category:Plants used in traditional Native American medicine]]
[[Category:Plants used in Native American cuisine]]