Ledum palustre L.

vernacular marsh Labrador tea — species · Ericaceae

USDA: LEPA11
GBIF: 2882984 syn.
Rank: species

marsh Labrador tea (Ledum palustre) — Platephotograph · no rights reservedCC0 · public domain source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Shrub
Duration: Perennial
Group: Dicot
Family: Ericaceae Juss.
Genus: Ledum

§2a

Native status, by region

AK Alaska Native
CAN Canada Native
GL Greenland Native

§2b

County-level range

· 19 counties across 1 state

Legend Native · 19 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: None
Salinity: None
Anaerobic: Low
Hedging: None

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: -62 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 120 min.
Precipitation: 10–180 in/yr
pH range: 4.5–7.5
Root depth: 12 in min.
Fertility need: Medium
Soil texture: coarse

§3c

Form & growth

Lifespan: Short
Mature height: 0.5 ft
Height @ 20 y: 1 ft
Fruit colour: Brown
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: None
Toxicity: Slight

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Summer
Seed begins: Summer
Seed ends: Summer
Stratify: Yes
Propagation: container

§3e

Use & availability

Nursery stock: No
Browse palatability: Medium
Palatable, human: No
Lumber: No
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 19 counties across 1 state.

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/LEPA11 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/2882984 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T08:39:52Z